


Harry Diggory

by AllyGator



Series: Harry Diggory [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Abusive Dursley Family, F/M, Gen, Harry Raised by Someone Else, Pre-Hogwarts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-25
Updated: 2015-01-13
Packaged: 2018-02-14 17:34:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 29,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2200743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllyGator/pseuds/AllyGator
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eileen Diggory always wanted another child. Cedric Diggory really wanted a little brother. So, when opportunity was spotted through a neighbor's window, Eileen took initiative and knocked down the door. Join Harry Diggory and friends as they grow up in a life before Hogwarts on the hills of Ottery St Catchpole.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In Which Eileen Hates Hiding

**Author's Note:**

> This is posted on my fanfic account, She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Usernamed. I've had a AO3 account and I decided I'd post it here too. Maybe I'll start working on the next chapter also! :D I'm just copying and pasting all the same things, so ignore the Author's Notes if you want.

 

**Author's Note: Greetings! This is my first attempt at writing a multi chapter story, so I hope you like it. I realize that some of this might be a bit cliche, but I hope I have an original spin on it. My plan is too actually do a series spanning all seven years, with this as a pre-Hogwarts story, but first I'll have to see if people like it.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**October 10th, 1981**

Hiding.

Eileen Diggory was tired of hiding. Looking at her three-year-old son (Almost four! Already! They grow so fast!) she sighed wistfully. Why couldn't the war just end? Stupid Voldemort and his stupid Death Eaters attacking their home and sending them into hiding... and, to top it all off, they had destroyed her garden! The nerve! Now, she was just so  _tired_  of hiding in this awful muggle neighborhood, with the Gemino cursed houses, and waking up every morning to see her poor husband looking so weary and itching to return to work. For goodness sake! They had been here for two years already! Eileen missed her garden, and she missed her family, and she missed her best friend, Molly, and she missed always having the possibility of having another child-

No, she didn't want to think about that. She didn't want to think about the Death Eaters attacking, their malicious grins as they crucio'd her as she screamed until her voice was all gone, and she couldn't bear to remember the stillness and the suffocation she felt as the healer informed her, no, I'm sorry Mrs. Diggory, the damage is to great, and Amos holding her as she cried, it's okay Eileen, we have have Cedric, we have our boy, Cedric, Cedric-

Cedric. Her little darling boy. She loved him so. His curious grey eyes staring at her under his mop of dark hair. He was so loving, so caring, surely a Hufflepuff like his father. But still, she wished she could give him a little brother or sister to care for. There weren't any muggle children his age in the neighborhood he could play with and, little Cedric couldn't even play with little magic children because they were trying to stay hidden-

Yes, Eileen Diggory hated hiding.

**October 12th, 1981**

Sometimes, Eileen wondered if there was a spell on their house to make Cedric grow faster. How was it that he was already four years old? His little head was already past the top of the kitchen table (she should probably relocate the jar of chocolate frogs now that he was tall enough to reach them). And, to think, he had pretty much grown up his whole life in this awful house, void of interaction with children his age, always in fear,  _always in hiding_. The poor boy didn't even know why they were hiding! Amos had tried to explain, but he was too little to understand. And now, he was four. Practically graduating Hogwarts already! Why, he hadn't even been two when they were attacked. How the time flew by! Now, Eileen wished that time would fly fast to the end of this awful war.

It was this war that had caused all this pain! All her pain! It was why she started crying when Cedric told her what he'd liked for his birthday ( _"A little brother, mummy!"_ ), it was why Amos was so restless, it was why she couldn't have her garden of magical plants because, honey, we're in a Muggle neighborhood, floating plants might bother them! Eileen was sure if You-Know-Who himself was to attack right now, she would not be able to restrain herself from punching him in the gut, her dark hair flying all around her, hazel eyes alight with flames. She pictured herself giving him the lecture of his lifetime, forcing him to cry for his mother and shoot an Avada Kedavra at his own ugly face.

And so, Eileen Diggory smiled her first true smile in a long time.

**November 1st, 1981**

Eileen Diggory wanted to forcefully pull her own giant pure blood foot out of her obnoxiously sized magical mouth. Yes, she wanted the war over. Yes, she wanted You-Know-Who defeated. Yes, yes,  _yes_  she wanted out of hiding!

But not like  _this!_

She most certainly did not want a young couple to die and their little son orphaned. Oh, the poor boy! But, she forced these thoughts out of her mind as Amos flooed home, a bright smile on his face, because he could go back to the job he loved and because his little family was safe. And she couldn't stop smiling as she saw Molly again after two years, already with more kids than when she left (Eileen ignored the small pang in her chest as she watched the large brood of children). And she even laughed as she saw Cedric get to ride a broom in the open air for the first time.

But, at night, she still felt a bit guilty as she thought of poor little Harry Potter, all alone, off to live with some far off relatives.

**November 9th, 1981**

However, as it turned out, little Harry Potter was not off to live with some very far off relatives. He was off to live with some very close relatives.

Very  _very_ close relatives.

As in the oh-look-isn't-that-Harry-Potter-across-the-street-with-our-neighbor-that-awful-Petunia-Dursley kind of close relative.

Yes. That kind.

And, believe it or not, Petunia Dursley was hitting him. Harry Potter. Who, though he must have some amazing power since he did take down a Dark Lord, was still a child. A very small child.

So, Eileen did what any sensible witch would do when faced with their tiny savior who was being abused by his aunt.

She took him.

And, so begins the story of little Harry Diggory.

* * *

**So, there is the prologue. I've already got most of the next chapter done, but I might wait to post it based on this chapter's reception.**

**So, what do you think? Too cliche? Was it unbearable to read? Are your eyes bleeding?**

**Please review to let me know!**

**Oh, and before I forget: DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter. However, if JK Rowling wishes to give it to me, I will not turn it down...**


	2. In Which Amos Discovers a Kidnapping

**DISCLAIMER: Nope, still don't own Harry Potter.**

* * *

His opponent's bright green eyes stared at him.

He stared back.

His opponent let out a squeal of delight.

He blinked.

Looking up, Amos Diggory met his wife's slightly guilty gaze. With a sigh, he sat down at his favorite chair in front of the fire, still slightly covered in soot from the fire place he had just stepped out of. His wife crinkled her nose in disgust at the grime that he was getting on the chair, but Amos could not bring himself to care.

"Explain." His wife's disgusted look quickly changed into one of obviously forced innocence.

"Hmm. Yes, well, you see, you're getting dirt all over the chair-" Amos shot an annoyed look at her and she ceased speaking.

"No, Eileen, about that." He said with a pointed look at the child who was now actively chewing on Eileen's hair. Nevertheless, she adopted a look of honest confusion.

"What?" Amos made a frustrated sound.

"The child, who, I believe, was not here when I left this morning!" He exclaimed. Eileen looked guilty again.

"Oh. That." She said meekly. At the glare he shot her, she began speaking. "Yes, well, Amos my dear, I'd like you to meet little Harry. Harry Potter." Amos' mouth dropped open. Yes, he had been expecting some sob story of an orphan, probably extra dramatized to sway him to her views, which, of course, would be to adopt, and he would cave to her desires, he really never could reject her, but not _that_  orphan! His eyes immediately sought after the rumored scar. It was there! This really was Harry Potter!  _The_  Harry Potter! He shot his wife a look of pure disbelief.

"You kidnapped Harry Potter!?" He asked, his voice squeaking in panic.

"Oh, calm down! Amos, dear, it's not nearly as bad as you make it sound." Amos shot up.

"Don't you 'Amos, dear' me! Not nearly as bad as it sounds?! You kidnapped the savior of the wizarding world! Kidnapped! There are probably aurors already-" If Amos was not already aware that he was shouting, he was now. Harry had begun to cry and Eileen shot him a disgusted look.

"Look what you did!" She exclaimed. Well, Amos thought, she had no right to be mad at him, she was the one who kidnapped Harry Potter. However, he couldn't help but feel guilty as he watched Eileen attempting to calm the toddler. Sitting down, he began to calm himself. Surely they could approach this rationally. Amos snorted. There was nothing logical or rational about this! His wife was a kidnapper! With a deep breath, he spoke after Harry had stopped crying.

"How did you get him anyway? Didn't Dumbledore say that Harry was safe, off to live with muggle relatives?" And angry looked crossed Eileen's face.

"Well, it turns out that those muggle relatives are the Dursleys. Our neighbors." Amos' eyes widened.

"That walrus and his horsey wife and round child across the street? How are they Harry Potter's relatives?"

"It turns out Petunia Dursley was Lily Potter's sister."

"Really? That still doesn't explain why you have Harry, though." Eileen looked even more angry.

"Yes, well, this morning after I dropped Cedric off at the Weasley's, I thought I'd go to that little Muggle bakery, they have such good bread, and, after being cooped up for so long, with the hiding and Dark Lord and what not, I thought I'd walk there. But, when I returned home, I heard yelling and crying from Number Four. I looked, and through the window, I saw Petunia Dursley standing over a child, yelling, and suddenly, she hit him! Hard! The poor thing fell over from the force! Angry, I forced my way in a demanded why she did such a thing! You know what she said Amos?" Eileen asked, continuing before Amos could answer, "She said that it was because he was a  _freak!_  Can you believe it! So, I pulled out my wand, and she screamed I was a freak too! 'Just like her sister, perfect little Lily!' Enraged, I picked up Harry, who was still on the floor crying, and I, I-" Amos was surprised at the sudden change in emotion. One second, Eileen was passionate and angry, now she just look scared and timid.

"What is it Eileen?"

"Oh, Amos, I obliviated her! As far as she knows, Harry was taken away by some stranger in black clothing that covered his face!" Amos sucked in his breath. Putting and arm around his now sobbing wife, he tried to comfort her.

"There, there, Eileen, everything will be fine. I'll just get Dumbledore-" Eileen shot up, knocking Amos' arm off as she did so.

"No." She said, her voice filled with venom as she clutched Harry firmly to herself. She really looked a scary sight, her face red and blotchy, looking entirely like an enraged mama bear. "No, Amos. Dumbledore was the one who put Harry with those people. If we tell him, he'll just put Harry back there. Amos! They were abusing him!" Her voice cracked with desperation at the end and Amos already knew he had lost this battle.

"What do suppose we do then?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

"We adopt him. We can love him and take care of him!" Amos sighed.

"Just because he'd live with us doesn't mean people won't notice. You'll be arrested with kidnapping before you can say 'Yes, I realize this child looks like Harry Potter. I assure you, he is not.' You'll go to Azkaban, Eileen!" Eileen looked frantic. Her eyes searches the walls as if they would provide the answer. Apparently, if you judged the expression that crossed her face moments later, they did.

"Simple. Blood adoption." Amos sputtered.

"Eileen! That's dark magic! Blood magic! Soul magic! How do you even know about it?" He cried.

"Oh Amos, you're so adorably Hufflepuff. You don't know half of things Molly and I did up in Gryffindor tower. Stealing from the restricted section was hardly our greatest offence." She would have laughed at Amos' scandalized expression if the conversation hadn't been so serious.

"Despite whatever shenanigans you might've gotten up to, this is still dark magic! It literally changes a child's blood! Forever!" Eileen looked desperate again.

"I know, Amos, but we would be using it to save Harry, to protect him. Think! Would Death Eaters looking for a blacked haired baby even give a second look at a little brown haired Diggory? We would be protecting him!" She was clearly already deeply attached to the child, Amos noted. He went through the pros and cons of officially participating in kidnapping Harry Potter, but what really made the decision for him was the look of pure love that Harry shot at Eileen. It seemed as though Eileen was not the only one attached. A soft smile graced his face and Eileen knew she had won.

"Eileen, if we're going to do this, we'll need help. I know that the spell requires four people to do it. Can you think of anyone we can trust with this?" Eileen looked sheepish and Amos immediately feared the worst. But, before he could say anything, Molly Weasley walked in the room with a tea set on a tray.

"Oh, hello Amos! How are you? I thought I'd make some tea, so help yourself. We can have dinner first if you'd like, then get started on the blood rituals. I hear they can be painful." Molly said with a clap of the hands and a cheery smile.

Amos just sighed.

* * *

Amazed as he was at Molly Weasley's skill to trivialize dark magical rituals into something like a family quidditch match, Amos still consented to dinner first. He wasn't stupid, he had heard legends of her cooking, no way he'd pass that up. So, with full stomachs, Eileen, Molly, and Amos gathered in their sitting room to discuss their law breaking.

"Of course, Arthur will be over in a little bit. That means we'll have the four people we need." Molly said happily as she played with Harry on the floor. Amos shot Eileen an annoyed look.

"Don't you think we should have discussed  _together_  who we wanted to commit kidnapping with?" Amos whispered furiously. Eileen slapped his arm.

"Will you stop going on and on about the kidnapping part? I like to think of it as 'forcefully rescuing'. And anyways, you  _know_  Molly and Arthur. Molly is my best friend since first year! Who else would I trust?" Eileen replied. Amos nodded, but still looked a little weary. Eileen turned to Molly. "Oh, Molly, if Arthur is coming over, who will watch all the children?"

"Oh, you know Xenophilius Lovegood's wife? She just had a baby a few months ago, a girl, just about Ginny's age. She offered to watch all my kids and Cedric." Eileen raised an eyebrow.

"Lovegood? Amos, isn't he that bloke who always comes into your office talking about Crackled Hair-snaps, or something?" Amos laughed.

"Yes, yes, he is." Eileen looked worried.

"Are you sure the children will be fine?" Molly smiled.

"Oh, the Lovegoods are a bit odd, but they're good people. Anyway, it's only Mr. Lovegood that is really, um,  _out there._  The children are fine." Eileen did not look completely reassured, but before she could comment, the fire place lit up and Arthur Weasley stepped out.

"Arthur!" Molly gleefully cried. Getting up, she gave Arthur a hug and a kiss. Amos stood up too and shook Arthur's hand.

"It's good to see you, Arthur. I don't see you nearly enough at the Ministry." Arthur nodded as Eileen got up and gave him a friendly hug.

"Oh, Molly, Arthur, I'll never be able to repay you for what you're doing here. Arthur, has Molly explained the situation?" Eileen said. Arthur nodded, his eyes drawn to the toddler on the floor with curiosity.

"Yes, but I admit I thought she was joking. I see that it is true then? And was Harry Potter really being abused by his own aunt?" Arthur said, turning to Eileen. Eileen nodded solemnly and Molly let out a strangled sob.

"Oh! How could they? He's just a babe!" Molly cried. Arthur comforted his wife as Eileen picked Harry up off the floor. With a happy laugh, he sat in her arms.

"Well," Eileen started, looking at her husband and friends, "I suppose we should get going. The rituals take a few hours and Cedric needs to be home soon." Everyone nodded in reply and they followed Eileen into the basement.

"Wait, doesn't this ritual require some sort of potion that take hours to brew?" Arthur asked. Molly nodded, but Eileen answered.

"Yes, it does. Don't worry though, I already have some ready." Amos looked at her in shock.

"You do? How long have you been planning this?" He exclaimed.

"Amos, dear, remember: I, er,  _found_  Harry this morning. I've had all day to brew potions. And, I'll have you know I am especially adept at the art of potion brewing. How else could Molly and I have brewed a love potion at Hogwarts?" Eileen said haughtily. Amos nodded, slightly dazed. His eyes met Arthur's and immediately, an unspoken agreement passed between the two wizards.  _Our wives are insane._

They soon were at the basement. There, in the center of the room, was a table that had little potion bottles set up. It looked meticulously arranged.

"Eileen, what would you have done if I had said no to, how did you say it, forcefully rescuing Harry?" Amos asked. Eileen just laughed.

"Well, we should get started. Eileen, lay Harry down in the center of the table." Molly said. Eileen did as she was asked, giving Harry a little kiss on the forehead before tapping her wand on him. Instantaneously, Harry fell asleep. At Amos' and Arthur's questioning look, Eileen spoke.

"It will be easier for him if he is asleep. While not excruciatingly painful, this type of ritual is known to cause soreness." Eileen explained. Molly grabbed an old book of the table.

"Okay, well, I need to quickly remind myself all of the details for this. Let's see, oh! Here it is! The Blood Adoption Ritual. It says here,  _'the blood adoption ritual is a combination of both soul and blood magic. It requires four magic wielders, two prospective adopters, and two witnesses. In order for the ritual to work, those who wish to adopt the child must bear no ill will to him or his kin. To ensure that they don't, the adopters and the child all drink a Soul Searching Potion. If one of the soul's who drank it wishes to harm the child, they will immediately perish. If all are still living, they then give the child the Blood Adoption Draught (recipe next page), which contains samples of both parents' blood. The child will then start to morph, his features changing to match his adopted parents. It is noted that sometimes a few features of birth parents do stay. Nevertheless, the child will then be completely the new parents child, genetically and magically.'_  There, that doesn't sound to hard, right?" Molly asked. Arthur and Amos were still staring at her in horror. _  
_

"You want me to drink a potion that could kill me?" Amos eventually got out. Molly gave him a condescending look.

"It will only kill you if you want to hurt Harry. Do you want to hurt Harry, Amos?" Molly asked.

"Of, of course not! But Eileen, Molly, this sounds like seriously dark magic! Do you fully understand what you're doing?" He cried.

"Amos, I am not just doing this because I've always wished for another child. I'm doing this because there is a child who needs to be protected, not just from bad guys, but from good guys, too. Amos, Harry  _needs_ us!" Eileen said passionately. Amos looked at the sleeping child on the table and he already could feel himself getting attached to Harry. But, could he accept Harry as his own son? Love him equally to Cedric? With another look at Harry's innocent sleeping face, Amos decided he could. With a determined look on his face, Amos nodded at Eileen.

"Oh good! Let's get started!" Eileen said gleefully. Going to the table she got three vials that had been laying on it. Inside them, it looked like there was a clear liquid with some sort of stringy, black goop was floating in it.

"Is that the soul potion thingy?" Arthur asked. Eileen nodded.

"Yes, this is the Soul Searching Potion. Before Amos, Harry, and I drink it though, I'll need to cast the ritual ward around the five of us. Will you all step around the table? The ward only reached a few feet." Once they had done so, Eileen stuck her wand in the air,  _"Ut adoptionem sacra partem sanguinis!"_ She chanted. Out of her wand sprouted a silver tented dome that covered them all. By Eileen's satisfied nod, they knew that this was what she wanted. "Okay then. Amos, here is your potion. Molly, will you give Harry's his? We all need to take them at the same time, and I have my own."

"Of course, Eileen." Molly held the vial, popping off the cork. She gingerly lifted Harry's head, positioning the vial at his lips. "Tell me when you're ready, Eileen."

"Okay, on the count of three then. One...two...THREE!" Eileen yelled. She drank the potion just as Amos did so and Molly poured it into Harry's mouth. And then, nothing happened. At Amos' confused look, Eileen explained. "Sometimes it takes a minute to kick in."

A couple minutes later, Amos understood what Eileen meant. At first, it felt a bit like heart burn. It felt strange, like there was something in him, pushing on his chest from inside, trying to get out. The feeling only lasted a moment there though, before it quickly went to his head. Oh! The pain! This had to be the worst migraine he ever had! He saw Eileen clutching her own head, frantically motioning to Molly to be quiet. But again, the pain was gone only a few minutes later. Blinking, Amos looked at the group.

"I guess it worked, right? I mean, none of want to hurt-" His inquiry was interrupted as Harry gave a painful cry. Eileen and Molly rushed to his sides trying to hold Harry down as he convulsed.

"What's wrong with him?" Arthur asked.

"I don't know! I don't know! This shouldn't be happening!" Eileen exclaimed. They watched in horror as Harry's scar split open, blood dripping down his face, when suddenly, a dark mist rose out of the scar. Molly screamed and fell to the floor.

"What  _is_ that?!" Amos had no idea. However, it was no normal mist. It looked like it had an eye in it, a grotesque glowing eye, but still an eye. It was hovering over them, looking as though it was trying to fly away, but it could not get past the ritual dome. Suddenly, the dome turned black and no one could see anything. An unearthly scream filled the dome and the dome turned silvery translucent again. The evil mist was gone.

Amos got up (when had he fallen to the floor?), and looked at Harry. Harry was very pale and sweaty, but otherwise he seemed fine.

"What happened?" Arthur asked as Eileen cast diagnoses charms on Harry to ensure he was okay.

"I'm not sure. The potion was only supposed to kill any soul who drank it and wished harm on Harry." A thoughtful look crossed Arthur's face.

"You don't suppose it had to do with whatever happened to You-Know-Who? Like maybe You-Know-Who accidentally put some of his soul into Harry?" They all looked alarmed at the thought.

"You think that some of You-Know-Who's  _soul_  was in Harry?" Molly asked. As Amos thought about it, it seemed the only logical explanation. When else could have Harry gotten an evil soul in his scar? The very scar he got Halloween night!

"I agree with Arthur. It seems the only logical explanation." Amos said. As he was speaking, Eileen had just finished cleaning up Harry.

"Oh! Look at his scar! It's almost completely gone!" Eileen exclaimed in surprise. Indeed, it merely looked like a pale line rather than the red lightning bolt it had looked like earlier.

"Well, come on then. Let's get the rest of this over with." Arthur said. Molly nodded and grabbed the final potion.

"I just need a drop of blood from you and Amos, Eileen." Eileen nodded and grabbed the small knife off the table. Holding her thump above the potion, she cut herself and watch was the blood dripped in. She handed the knife to Amos and he repeated what she did. The potion shimmered for a second before returning to the dark blue it was before. Molly scooped some into a vial and handed it to Eileen. "I thought you'd like the honor of feeding it to Harry." Eileen smiled and nodded before taking the potion and lovingly positioning Harry in her arms.

"Well, here's to Cedric getting his birthday wish and to having another Diggory in the world." Eileen said, small tears gathering in her eyes. Gently, she tipped the contents of the vial into Harry's mouth. For a second, Amos was worried that it hadn't worked. Then Harry started to glow and his hair started to lighten in color. He watched, fascinated, as Harry's hair started to turn from a raven black into a light brown with hints of an auburn color. It was even somewhat wavy! Just like Cedric's hair! Harry also started growing in size. Cedric had always been tall for his age, and it looked like Harry would be so too. Harry squirmed in Eileen's arms as is little arms and legs grew. It was a bit unsettling to see, but with every little change, Amos fell more in love with the boy who now looked thoroughly Diggory. It took about fifteen minutes before the transformations stopped. Amos looked at his wife holding Harry in her arms, why, it seemed like they were back in time when Cedric was that young! There were differences of course. Harry now had Eileen's nose and his hair was significantly lighter than Cedric's.

"I'm going to wake him up now. I hear that this ritual will make the child very hungry." Eileen tapped Harry with her wand. Harry sat up and blinked sleepily. When his eyes fully opened, Amos gasped.

"Why, they're still the same green eyes!" He exclaimed.

"I did say some features may remain." Molly replied. Harry was still looking at Amos with a puzzled expression. Reaching his arm out, Harry pointed at Amos.

"Da?" Amos blinked in surprise.

"How did he-?" Amos started, but Molly interrupted.

"It's just a side effect of the adoption. Harry now feels a familial connection with you. He knows you're now his father." Harry then turned to Eileen and reached out one of his chubby toddler hands and laid it on her cheek.

"Mum! Hungwy!" Eileen laughed while standing up.

"Yes, Harry, I suppose you are hungry, let's go get something to eat."

* * *

Cedric Diggory really wanted a sibling (preferably a brother as girls were very icky, but he supposed he could be flexible). Going to the Weasley's today just renewed his interest in having a sibling. They Weasley's had tons of siblings! It must never be boring there and it was so  _boring_  being an only child. Especially since his mummy and daddy never let him visit wizarding children till just recently. Cedric wondered as he sat in the Burrow playing with the Twins (he never could keep up with who was who), if he would ever get a sibling. He certainly never got one for his birthday. But, Cedric was interrupted from his musings when the fire place roared and his daddy and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley stepped out.

"Daddy!" Cedric said happily from his spot on the floor.

"Hello, my boy! Have you had fun?" His dad asked. Cedric nodded.

"Yes, daddy! Mrs. Lovegood helped us look for Nargles!"

"Er, nargles?"

"Mm hmm. It was really fun! We didn't catch any, though." Cedric finished sadly. His dad still looked a little confused.

"I see. Well, Cedric, we've really got to go home now. Your mum and I have a surprise for you." Cedric immediately brightened, any previous sad thoughts about leaving forgotten.

"A surprise? For me?" He said excitedly as he ran over to his dad. Amos laughed and picked him up.

"Yes, for you!" His daddy tickled him a little before turning to the other grown ups, "Well, we better get going. Thank you Mrs. Lovegood for watch Ced, and thank you Molly and Arthur for, well, you know." Mrs. Lovegood nodded serenely before turning back to the little babies while Mr. and Mrs. Weasley nodded to Cedric's daddy.

"It really was out pleasure, Amos." Mr. Weasley said. Mrs. Weasley nodded her head next to him.

"Well, Eileen in I are in your debt-"

"Nonsense!" Mrs. Weasley interrupted. Cedric thought this was rude. "The only thing we ask is that you bring over the kids every once in awhile. It'd be such a joy for my brood to play with someone without red hair." They all laughed, but Cedric couldn't really see what was so funny. Grown ups were so weird.

"Well then, see you later. Thanks again, really, and goodbye!" Cedric's dad stepped into the fire place with Cedric perched on his hip. Yelling their address, they flooed home.

Feeling a bit disoriented, the two Diggory men stepped out of the fire place. Cedric was placed in a chair while his dad called for his mum.

"Eileen! We're here!" He then turned to Cedric. "Now Cedric, you're mum and I have a very special surprise for you."

"What? What is it?" Cedric asked. Then, his mum walked in the room with something in her arms. The instant Cedric saw what it was, he shot out of his chair. "A brother! Really? And we can keep him? Forever?" His mum laughed while setting the toddler on the floor.

"Yes, Cedric. This is your new brother, Harry." Cedric approached his new brother cautiously.

"Hello Harry. I'm Cedric. I'm your big brother now." Cedric said. Harry looked at him and grinned. Grinning back, Cedric hugged Harry and placed a sloppy kiss on his cheek. "I love him mummy! He's perfect!"

"Ced'wic." Harry giggled. Cedric's smile widened.

"He said my name! Mum! He said 'Cedric'!" His mum laughed again.

"I know, I heard sweetheart. Now, you'll have plenty of time to play tomorrow. Why don't you go get ready for bed now?" Cedric sighed sadly, but left anyway. As soon as they heard the bedroom door close, Eileen turned to Amos.

"Amos, I've just thought of something. We can't stay here! The neighbors will notice that we now have a baby who is clearly our child who wasn't there yesterday! Anyways, I don't want to live with muggles anymore! Or the Dursleys!"

"I agree. I've been trying to think of somewhere we can move too quickly." They sat there think for a few minutes while Harry played with a stuffed snitch on the floor.

"Wait! Amos! I know Diggory Manor was destroyed in the war, but wasn't there another little cottage your family owned?" Amos nodded.

"That's right! I haven't been there in over twenty years though, so I don't know what condition it's in."

"Where was it located though?" At this, Amos grinned.

"In Ottery St Catchpole, my dear."

"Ottery-? Oh! That's where the Weasley's are! It's perfect! I've always wanted to live near Molly!"

"Good, then it's settled. Tomorrow we'll head over there to check out the property. Hopefully, we'll have the house livable by the end of this week." Cedric then ran in the room and plopped himself on the floor next to Harry, his smile so wide it threatened to split his face. Amos leaned back in his chair sighing happily as he watched his  _two_  sons playing together. The smile on Cedric's face was contagious as was the laughter that Harry was emitting. Soon Eileen joined them to play on the rug leaving Amos to stare at the beautiful picture of his happy family. Amos decided he never wanted to stop looking at his wonderful family that he loved so much.

And Amos Diggory decided he never wanted to blink again.

* * *

**TA DA! That's it. Hope you liked it. I'm not sure about the end but, whatever. I tried to make it long, especially since I'll be going out of town this week so I won't be updating for awhile. I hope this is okay for now.**

**Please, oh please, review! I would really appreciate it!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Till next time...**


	3. In Which Harry Engages in Petty Theft

**DISCLAIMER: Still don't own Harry Potter.**

* * *

He could see them from here. They were just out of reach! He could get them! He grabbed a chair and slowly pushed it to the counter. Climbing up, he reached his hand out. Yes! He got them! He grabbed a handful and began to climb down.

"What you doin'?" Busted! Harry turned to his captor, guilty stuffing the Christmas biscuits Mrs. Weasley had made behind his back. Ron Weasley stood looking at him, a confused expression on his face.

"Nothin'?" Harry said, but it came out as more of a question. Ron looked from the counter to the chair to the poorly hidden treats behind Harry's back.

"You steal mummy's treats?" Ron asked, his little face turning red with anger. Harry shook his head furiously.

"No. I just take four. I hungwy!" Harry was in no mood to talk to Ron Weasley. Why, he didn't even share his blocks last time they visited. He watched as Ron adopted a curious expression.

"I have one?" Ron inquired. Harry thought about it. If he gave Ron a biscuit, then maybe he wouldn't tell on him, and he might even let him play with his blocks!

"Blocks?" Harry asked. Ron nodded in understanding. Harry pulled out one of his stolen contraband and handed it to Ron. Ron smiled and stuffed the whole thing in his mouth. Harry giggled and ate his. Soon, both boys were laughing.

"What's so funny?" Harry and Ron shared a scared look. It was Percy! Percy would surely tell on them. He was the biggest tattle tale around!

"Dis way!" Ron said, grabbing Harry's hand. The two toddlers ran into the sitting room and jumped behind the couch. Once they were completely hidden Harry pulled the other biscuits he had hidden.

"Here." Harry said, handing Ron one. Ron smiled and ate it quickly.

"I like Hawwy." Ron grinned. Harry grinned back.

"I like Won. Fwiends?" Harry asked. Ron nodded. The two stay behind the couch giggling.

* * *

It had been tough at first completing all the necessary paperwork to ensure that no one would look twice at the second Diggory child. Molly started the rumor that Eileen had given birth while in hiding and Amos managed to get documents listing that Harrison James Diggory was born on August 3rd, 1980. They had tweaked Harry's name and birth date so that no one would at first connect him to Harry Potter. It only took a few days after Eileen's forceful rescuing for Dumbledore to realize Harry Potter was not where he had left him. Luckily, the Diggory family was already safely in their new cottage in Ottery St Catchpole, and no one even knew that they had been in hiding near the Dursleys. Eileen only felt a little bit guilty about the rumor that Harry had been kidnapped by Death Eaters, which was based on the implanted memory she had left in Petunia Dursley's head. Now, most of the aurors were on the Potter case, which got almost constant coverage in the Daily Prophet.

But, the Diggory family was not worried. In fact, they were currently enjoying a nice Christmas Eve party at the Weasley residence. All the children were inside playing while the adults relaxed at a little table right outside.

"Oh, did you hear about the Longbottoms? Really dreadful." Molly asked Eileen. Amos nodded his head and took a sip of his butterbeer, but Eileen shook her head.

"No, what happened?"

"Some Death Eaters attacked them and tortured Alice and Frank into insanity." Arthur said solemnly.

"Oh no! That's awful!" Eileen exclaimed.

"Yes, just go to show that even though the war is over, not all the evil is gone." Amos said.

"And they left behind a little boy, Neville, who is just about Harry's age." At this, Eileen looked interested.

"Really? Who is taking care of him now?" Amos shot her a suspicious look.

"His grandmother I believe." Answered Molly.

"Augusta Longbottom? She rather a harsh woman to raise a baby...though, of course, I'm sure she is doing great. Frank turned out fine, didn't he? No forceful rescuing needed. Not that I was considering it. Ever." Eileen had hastily corrected her words at the rather angry glare Amos sent her. Molly just laughed.

"It's times like this that I remember why I kept you around, Eileen." Eileen grinned.

"No, my dear Molly, I believe it was I who kept you. Now, my feet are completely numb. Fancy going inside to warm up by the fire?" Molly nodded in agreement and the two women linked arms and walked inside. Amos turned to Arthur.

"Apparently we've been forgotten, my friend." Amos laughed.

"I suppose so. What were we thinking when we married those two anyways?" Arthur asked.

"I'm not really sure. Now that I think about it, are we sure it wasn't love potion?" Amos joked.

"I don't know. If it was, then it would have been simple enough to feed to me. I'm in love with Molly's cooking." The men shared a good laugh before Molly called out to them.

"Come in now if you men want some dessert! I've made some Christmas biscuits!" Immediately both men popped out of their chairs and ran inside. Molly and Eileen were still standing at the door waiting.

"What did I tell you, Eileen? The way to a man's heart, is most definitely through his stomach." Both women laughed and all four walked inside. "I left the biscuits to cool on the counter a little bit ago. There right over- oh!" Molly exclaimed. The tray was now hanging halfway over the counter with multiple biscuits missing. Little crumbs littered the floor. Molly face started turning red. "CHILDREN!"

"Now, Molly, don't get to mad. They just love your cooking as much as I do. I'm sure they just couldn't resist waiting." Arthur reasoned. Molly seemed to calm down a little. With the sound of a raging stampede of red-headed elephants, the Weasley children, minus baby Ginny who was napping, appeared in the kitchen.

"What's up, Mum?" Bill asked. Charlie stood next to him with Fred and George in the front.

"Where's Percy and Ron?" Molly asked.

"I'm here mother. Sorry, I was reading." Five-year-old Percy said as he walked into the room.

"It's fine, dear. Now that you're all here-" Molly started.

"'Cept Ronnie." Piped up Fred (or George?).

"Yes, except Ron, but I'm sure he has nothing to do with this. He's not even tall enough!"

"Not tall enough to do what?" Asked Charlie. Molly moved to the side to allow the children to see the tray on the counter.

"Not me!" They all cried together. They then all started to yell at each other.

"It was probably Fred!"

"Nuh-uh! It was Charlie!"

"Bill! Bill did it!"

"I did not!"

"I always knew Percy was a thief!"

"I was reading!"

"It was Fred and George!"

"I bet it was Ginny!"

"She can't even talk yet!"

"Well, it's always the quiet ones!" They continued to accuse each other before Molly had had enough.

"QUIET!" Molly bellowed. Immediately the children stopped talking and turned to face their mother. "You should be ashamed of yourselves, yelling at each other like that! I want you all to march into the sitting room and sit down. Then, you will all tell me exactly where you've been! If no one confesses, then I guess you'll all have to be sent to your rooms for the rest of the night!" With cries of outrage, the five Weasley kids followed their mother leaving Arthur, Eileen, and Amos watching in mild amusement. At that moment, Cedric popped his head in the room.

"What's goin' on? I heard yelling. Fred and George said they'd be back soon."

"They will be, son. They just have to discuss somethings with their mum, okay?" Amos explained. Cedric nodded indicating his understanding before leaving the room again.

"Well, I suppose we should go in there to ensure Molly doesn't strangle the children." Arthur sighed. The three walked into the sitting room. The sight they saw was all five children squished together on the couch with their heads hanging down. Occasionally, one would look up to glare at the others. Molly was standing in front of them all, with her hands on her hips, glaring.

"Has a prisoner confessed?" Eileen asked. Molly shot a glare at her, so Eileen threw her hands up in mock surrender.

"Bill, we'll start with you. Where have you been?" Molly asked. Bill gulped at the fierce expression on her face.

"I've been with Charlie up in my room. We've been having a Exploding Snaps tournament." Charlie nodded in agreement to Bill's alibi.

"And Fred? George? Where have you two been?"

"We've been with-" Fred started.

"-Cedric, mummy."

"Yeah! Up in-"

"-our room!" They finished together, nodding their heads. Molly looked at them suspiciously before turning to Percy.

"And you, Percy?" She asked.

"I've been reading, mum." Percy explained. Molly kept glaring at them and Amos wondered if maybe the aurors could use her to interrogate Death Eaters.

"And none of you have anything else to say?" She asked. The children shook their heads. "All right then, if none of you confess, then I guess it's up to your rooms-" She was interrupted by cries of outrage.

"Mum!"

"No fair!"

"But I didn't do it!" Soon the children turned on each other again yelling accusations.

"I SAID QUIET!" Molly yelled at them. The room became silent once more and Molly just glared at the children. After and excruciatingly long silence, Molly began to speak. "Now, I don't want anyone to argue-"

_ACHOO!_

Everyone looked up at the sneeze. It hadn't come from anyone in the room!

"Who sneezed?" Inquired Charlie. Bill shrugged his shoulders.

_ACHOO!_

"There it was again!" Percy exclaimed.

"I think it was from behind this couch!" Bill said. The children got on their knees and poked their heads behind the sofa.

"Uh, mum, I think you should see this." Charlie said. Molly huffed but still walked over to see.

"Oh! Oh dear. Well, it seems I found the thieves. Sorry children, you may go back to whatever you were doing." The kids exchanged gleeful cheers before running out of the room.

"What is it, Molly?" Arthur asked.

"Come see for yourselves." She replied. Amos, Eileen, and Arthur all walked to the couch. Amos snorted at the sight behind it.

There, behind the couch, was two sleeping toddlers. Harry and Ron were leaning against each other, snoring softly, completely covered in crumbs from the stolen snacks. As they were watching, Ron breathed in another crumb and let out a big sneeze.

"Oh! Should we wake them?" Eileen asked.

"We'd better. They can't stay back there." Molly said. The women reached back and picked up their respective child. Setting them on the couch, they gently woke them.

"Mummy?" Harry said sleepily.

"Harrison Diggory! What do you have to say for yourself?" Eileen asked, though it was very hard to stay angry when Harry looked so adorable, half-asleep and covered in crumbs.

"Yes, and you too, Ronald!" Molly scolded. Harry and Ron exchanged a look.

"Biscuits?" Harry asked.

"Yes, Harry, why did you take the biscuits?" Amos asked.

"Hungwy?" Harry replied. Ron nodded next to him.

"Well, sweetheart, if you were hungry you could've just told me." Eileen explained. Harry and Ron looked down guiltily.

"How did you get to them anyway?" Arthur wondered. At this Harry and Ron shared a smile.

"Chair!" Harry exclaimed.

"We smart!" Ron grinned. Harry nodded in enthusiastic agreement. Eileen and Molly shared a look at the two boys obvious camaraderie.

"What should we do with them?" Eileen asked.

"I'll just send Ron up to bed early, I suppose. I mean, they're not even two yet, I can't get that mad." said Molly. Eileen gave her a grin.

"You're just happy that they're friends now!" Molly gave her an even wider smile.

"I suppose that's part of it. Plus, they look so adorable all sleepily and covered in biscuit!" Eileen laughed at Molly reasoning before smiling evilly.

"Wait! I'll get a camera! This will be their punishment. When they're teenagers, we'll embarrass them by showing all their friends a picture of their first act of theft!" Molly and Eileen shared a laugh while Molly got they magic camera. Arthur gave Harry and Ron, who were both nodding off again, a look of pity.

"Those poor, poor boys." Arthur said. Amos nodded his head solemnly.

"Yes. They'll never live it down! I guess this goes to show to never get on the bad side of our wives."

"Hmm, yes. Though, if you hadn't figured out by now to not do that, then I am amazed you're still around." Amos laughed in agreement. Molly and Eileen returned to the room, still laughing manically.

"Smile boys!" Eileen said. Harry and Ron gave the camera sleepy smiles. Molly took the picture and turned around.

"I'll put it in the developing potion in a little bit. I think we should wait to show that picture off till they have there first girlfriend." Molly told them. Eileen nodded.

"That should teach them to steal from your kitchen!" Eileen exclaimed.

"Yes, yes. Now, there's still a lot of biscuits left. You all can have some now, if you'd like. I know it's getting late and you can't stay that much longer." Amos nodded and raised and eyebrow at the curious expression on Arthur's face. It looked almost fearful. "All right then, let's just go back to the kitchen." They all walked in and Molly gave a cry of surprise. "Oh! More biscuits are missing! I baked a dozen, and I know Harry and Ron took four, but look! There are only seven left!"

"Could it have been the other children?" Eileen asked. Molly shook her head.

"No, none of them went to the kitchen after I dismissed them. I would have seen it. Oh well, maybe I just counted wrong. I'll get some plates."

Amos was pretty sure he was the only one to see Arthur frantically brush some crumbs off of his shirt.

* * *

**So, that's it. I know it's not much, but I thought it was kind of cute. I really stink at toddler speech though, so I'm thinking about jumping ahead a few years in the next chapter, which won't be uploaded till maybe next week. Review if you'd rather see more of toddler!Harry, or not.**

**Oh, and in case you're wondering: Even though I'm doing this in a kind of episodic style where the chapters do not really rely on each other, I am going to be introducing and over arching plot to connect the whole thing together. This plot may be in the background more often then not, overshadowed by the individual chapter stories, but it will still be there. It is briefly mentioned in this chapter, but not really. I'll probably introduce it more clearly in the coming chapters. And, I have a later chapter planned that will explore this plot line more thoroughly, but it won't be for a little bit.**

**I really hope you liked it, and sorry it's not as long as last time.**

**PLEASE REVIEW! I'd really appreciate it.**

**Till next time!**

**Also Note: I am American. I really am trying to use British words though. In England, I've read that what we in the U.S. call cookies are called biscuits, hence "Christmas _biscuits"._  I'm also trying to use only the word 'mum', but if the occasional 'mom' sneaks in, please tell me so I can correct it.**


	4. In Which Cedric Blames the House Elves

* * *

Destruction.

It was pure chaos. It was clear that someone, or something, had attacked leaving only wreckage in it's wake.

This is what went through Eileen's mind on this particular August Saturday morning. She wrinkled her nose at her oldest son's room. How had Cedric created such a mess in so little time? His room had been clean two days before! She shook her head before turning to look at the bed. There, instead of a sleeping four-year-old, was a giant pile of robes and toys. She snorted in amusement as the pile moved and a little head with sleep tousled hair popped out.

"Mummy?" Cedric asked sleepily.

"Morning, dear, I just wanted to get you for breakfast." Cedric nodded before disappearing back into his pile. Moments later, he popped back out, changed into his play robes, and wide awake. Eileen always wondered how he did that.

"I'm coming, mummy!" Cedric said, jumping off the bed. Eileen laughed at his still crazy hair.

"Go comb your hair first, sweetheart. Breakfast is on the table. Now, I've got to go get Harry." Cedric nodded then zipped out of the room. With one last look at Cedric's messy bedroom, Eileen closed the door at went down the hall to get Harry.

Once she had woken the newly two-year-old boy, Eileen went downstairs to see Amos and Cedric, who hair was now tamed, enjoying breakfast.

"Morning!" Amos said cheerfully. Eileen nodded in greeting while setting Harry in his high chair.

"You have today off, right?" She asked. Amos shook his his head while sighing.

"Unfortunately, no. I've got to go in today. We're trying to get a treaty with the centaurs and they will only meet us today, something about the 'alignment of the planets', or something. You know centaurs, always going on about planets. Too bad they have to align on the weekend." Amos said regretfully.

"Oh dear, who will I have watch the boys? Molly and I needed to go to Diagon Alley." Eileen asks, worried. Amos looked up thoughtfully.

"Couldn't Mrs. Lovegood watch them?" Eileen looked skeptical.

"I don't know..." She replied.

"Why do you need to go, anyways?" Amos asked. At this, Eileen looked sheepish.

"You see, when I brewed that potion just recently for the ritual, it reminded me of how much I had always enjoyed potion brewing. I just wanted to get some supplies so I can start brewing again." Amos just smiled.

"Well, I'm glad that you have a hobby." Amos then looked at his watch, which made him jump in surprise. "Oh dear! Well, I need to go, or I'll be late. Goodbye!" Amos gave us wife a quick kiss before jumping in the floor. After watching him go, Eileen looked at Cedric.

"Now Cedric, I was wondering how in the world you managed to get your room so filthy, so quickly. Care to explain?" Cedric looked guilty.

"It was the house elves?" He tried.

"House Elves clean up messes, not make them. Now, after you finish eating, I want you to go clean up your room. I've got to go ask Mrs. Lovegood if she can watch you while I'm out." Cedric pouted, but did as asked, while Eileen went to use the floo.

Cedric dragged his feet to his room letting out dramatic woeful sighs the whole way there. Behind him, Harry followed, trying to mimic both Cedric's walk, and sounds. Once he reached his door, Cedric turned back to Harry.

"Sorry Harry. I can't play with you today." Cedric said sadly. Harry tilted his head, confused.

"Why?"

"Mummy says I've got to clean my room." Harry frowned.

"Why?"

"I dunno. Grown ups like clean stuff, I guess."

"Why?" Cedric rolled his eyes at his brother.

"I said I don't know."

"Outside?"

"No, Harry, I can't go outside. I've got to clean my room!"

"Now?"

"Yeah, Mummy said so." Harry looked sad, small tears gathering in his eyes. Cedric gave him a little hug. "Harry, don't cry! We'll play later!"

"NO! Play now!" Harry wailed. He started bawling and Cedric frantically tried to calm him. Giving up, Cedric yelled to his mother.

"Mum! Harry's crying!" He heard his mother's footsteps approaching. She looked at the two boys before giving Cedric an annoyed look.

"What did you do?" Cedric look outraged.

"I didn't do anything! He just started crying 'cause I said I gotta clean my room but he wants to go outside!" Eileen picked Harry while making comforting sounds. She looked at Cedric for a second before giving a little sigh.

"Oh, alright. Cedric, you can clean your room later. Why don't you and Harry go outside to the garden for a bit before Mrs. Lovegood comes?" Cedric's face lit up with a delighted smile while Harry gave a gleeful laugh.

"Yay! Thanks, Mum!" Cedric grabbed Harry's hand as they ran out the room. Eileen smiled before calling out to them.

"Watch your brother, Cedric! Don't touch any plants!"

"Yes Mum!" Cedric called back, already ripping open the back door that led to the garden. Eileen shook her head in amusement before returning to the kitchen to write out a list of supplies she would need.

* * *

His Mum's garden was beautiful, Cedric thought.

Plants of all kinds, both magic and muggle, grew all around. When stepping out there, Cedric always got the impression of being in a magical land. This, of course, suited his needs since Harry and him always played many imaginary games out there. Well, mainly Cedric played while Harry just nodded and followed him around. Looking around, Cedric spotted his branch that he always used as a wand.

"Come on Harry, we're going to play Merlin and his Dragon today. I'll be Merlin, you can be the Dragon." Harry gave him a somewhat toothless grin.

"D'agon?" Harry giggled.

"Yeah! And, and you'll be my faithful companion and we'll face off an evil wizard together! But, of course, while we're fighting, the evil wizard, um, Slyther- I mean, Silverfin? Yeah, Silverfin, will find your weakness! You're ticklish tummy!" Cedric said excitedly before reaching out and tickling Harry. Harry fell to the ground, shrill giggles piercing the air in the otherwise silent garden. Cedric laughed with him before continuing with his story. "But, no worries, Har! I'll save you!" He picked up his branch and waved it around at an invisible enemy. "Surrender, foul Silverfin!" He said in his deepest, and most heroic, sounding voice. Harry was still on the ground, laughing at everything Cedric did. Cedric grinned at his pleased audience member before starting a somewhat clumsy duel with his branch. "'Spelliarmus!" He cried. He reach his hand in the air as if catching a wand. "Ha! I won Harry!" He said victoriously, but when he turned to look at his brother, Harry wasn't there.

Setting his branch down, Cedric looked around the garden. "Harry?" Receiving no response, Cedric began to worry. "Harry?!" He said more frantically. Then, somewhere to his left, he heard a giggle. Sighing in relief, Cedric turned to see Harry back between some bushes, reaching out towards and odd looking fruit. "Stop, Harry! Mum says not ta touch her plants!" Cedric yelled. He raced over to Harry hoping to get the fruit before Harry could, but he was to late. Harry had already plucked the fruit off the bush and bitten in to it. With a mixture of fascination and horror, Cedric watched as Harry began to disappear, clothes and all. "Harry!" He cried. He reached out to grab Harry's hand just as it turned invisible. Though Cedric could feel Harry in his hand, he could not see him at all. Mum was going to kill him!

And, as if sensing that trouble was happening in the garden, Cedric heard as his mum began to open the back door. Quickly, he jumped in front of Harry just as his Mum popped he head out the door.

"Cedric! Harry! Mrs. Lovegood is- what are you doing?" She had begun, but stopped when she caught sight of the peculiar look on Cedric's face. It reeked of trouble. Cedric quickly schooled his features into one of angelic innocence.

"Nothing, Mum." His mum still looked suspicious before sweeping her eyes across the garden.

"Where's Harry?" She asked. Cedric wondered if he could play dumb ("Harry? Harry who?") before figuring his mum wouldn't fall for that. He thought it better to stick to the truth. Mostly.

"He's behind me." Cedric said, and, as if to prove what he said, he poked Harry with his elbow gently, eliciting a loud laugh from him. This seemed to convince his mum as she then just nodded her head and began to go back inside.

"Okay then. Well, as I was saying, Mrs. Lovegood is here and she's going to watch you while I'm at Diagon Alley with Mrs. Weasley. I'll be back before lunch though."

"Okay, mum." Cedric said, eager for her to leave.

"And remember to have your room clean before I get back."

"Okay, mum. Bye!" She raised an eyebrow at his response before going back inside. Letting out the breath that he was holding, Cedric turned back to his see through brother.

"What am I going to do!" Cedric cried. "Harry! Spit the fruit back out!" Harry's disembodied giggled was all he got in reply. With out letting go of Harry's hand, Cedric sat down. "Great! Mum and dad are going to kill me!" He said despairingly.

"You're brother is invisible." Cedric jumped at the serene sounding voice. Turing, he looked to see Mrs. Lovegood with baby Luna perched on her hip, staring at him with wide, gray eyes. Cedric gulped.

"Yeah, he is." Mrs. Lovegood looked thoughtful before seating herself beside Cedric on the ground.

"Need some help?"

* * *

Eileen had always loved brewing potions.

Well, not always.

Actually, the only time she liked doing it in school was when Molly and her made that love potion. And that was  _invigorating._ The pure satisfaction she felt when it came out perfect was beyond anything she had ever felt, even more so than when she finally got Amos to ask her out in sixth year (though the two events were in no way connected to each other. At all.). But, due to all the strain she felt when doing potions in class, Eileen had almost forgotten her love of brewing. Until Harry.

Making the adoption potion was amazing. Besides the knowledge that it would give her the second child she always craved, she just loved making it. It reawakened that need to brew that had always been deep inside. Which was what brought her and Molly to Diagon Alley today.

"So, what's on the list?" Molly asked as the walked.

"Oh, just a list of general potion supplies as well as some ingredients for some more advanced potions. I was thinking about learning how to brew some healing potions. Figured it'd be useful with small children." Eileen told her while looking at the list in her hand.

"Okay then. Let's head over to Slug & Jiggers then to get your things. Then I need to go to pick up some more quills. The twins keep breaking all of mine and Arthur's." Eileen laughed.

"I know how you feel! I can't tell you how many times Cedric used to break all of mine! I had to start locking them up!" The women shared a laugh of mutual understanding as they entered the apothecary. As they stepped through the door, Molly inhaled a deep breathe.

"Ah! Brings back old memories. I always hated the smell of this place!"

"But it smells nice! Like plants!" Eileen exclaimed.

"More like it smells like dirt." Molly replied. Eileen rolled her eyes before looking at her list again.

"Come on then. Could you get these plants while I go to the back? That's where the ingredients students aren't allowed to buy are." Molly nodded while Eileen left to find her things. Molly mumbled to herself while searching the shelves for the plants. To engrossed in searching, Molly did not realize someone else was looking until she accidentally bumped into him.

"Oh! I'm sorry-" Molly froze.

It was Lucius Malfoy.

He sneered at her, a look of disgust on his face.

"Weasley." Molly's eyes grew cold and a look of contempt on her face.

"Lucius." She stated, no emotion in her voice. A weaker man would have cowed, but Lucius Malfoy was not intimidated easily.

"What are you doing here? Did your foolish Mudblood-loving husband finally get a pay raise?" He said sarcastically. Molly's face flushed with anger and, just as she began to retort, Eileen returned. Distracted by the label on the jar in her hand, Eileen did not see Lucius standing there.

"I found what I needed Molly. Did you get the plants- oh." Eileen said in surprise as she looked up.

"Ah, I see. Was there no better servants to choose to do your bidding, Mrs. Diggory?" Lucius smirked. Eileen looked confused at first before a look of understanding crossed her face. It was immediately over taken by outrage.

"How dare you! Molly is doing me a  _favor_ , as a  _friend_. Or perhaps you have no concept of such a thing?" Eileen told him. Lucius frowned at the insult before looking arrogant again.

"I suppose your husband is still in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures? No wonder you two are friends, both your husbands work with animals." He said. Both women flushed with anger.

"Muggles aren't animals!" Molly defended. Lucius looked at her condescendingly before turning back to Eileen.

"And, I here Amos was trying to work out a deal with centaurs, filthy half-breeds. A disgrace to purebloods all of you are." Eileen ignored the insult, more surprised at the other information.

"How did you know about the treaty? That's confidential!" She exclaimed. Before he could reply, she realized how. "Oh, I see. Fudge in your pocket then, Malfoy? I bet your Death Eater connections helped, too." This got an angry reaction out of him.

"It is very unwise to make such accusations in public, Mrs. Diggory. As you should know, I was cleared of all charges against me." Eileen rolled her eyes.

"Oh yes, I forgot, you were under the imperious curse. It must have been very damaging to your ego when such a man like you could not resist the curse when others, even  _Mudbloods,_  have." Eileen said sarcastically. Lucius gripped his walking stick in fury, and, for a brief second, Eileen thought he might attack. However, he soon schooled his features, and calm look that was even more terrifying on his face.

"I hear congratulations are in order." Eileen started at the sudden change in topic.

"What?"

"I've heard that you had another child while in hiding." Eileen nodded, suspicious at his interested tone. "It truly is a miracle then, yes?"

"Why should it be?"

"I had heard that you had had an  _accident_ before you went in hiding that prevented you from having children." All breath left Eileen and she looked up. She met his eyes and hazel stared into malicious grey eyes for a brief second. And she remembered.

"You-you- were..." She began quietly, her face pale. No one seemed to have heard her, so she shook her head and replied weakly. "You must have heard wrong." She then grabbed Molly's arm and quickly bought what she needed. As they exited the store, Molly turned to her.

"What? What is it, Eileen?" Molly asked. Eileen, still deathly pale, turned to her, eyes brimming with unshed tears.

"He was there, Molly. He was there."

"Where?"

"At the house, our house, the manor!" Eileen said, holding back a sob. Molly understood.

"At the attack? How do you know for sure?"

"His eyes. I saw his eyes. He was there! I saw him!" And Eileen could not hold back the memories as they flooded to the forefront of her mind.

_It had started out as a fine day._

_Cedric was taking a nap upstairs while Amos was at work._

_She had been in the sitting room in front of the beautiful fire place they had. She was trying to learn to knit a gift for Molly's new baby that was coming. A small noise alerted her that someone was outside. Getting up, she had walked over to the window. Suddenly, the window exploded. Flying backwards, she had hit the wall with a thud , crying out as glass cut her arms and face. Opening her eyes, she looked up to see four robed individuals standing before her wands out. All had masks on her face._

_Death Eaters._

_Fear gripped her heart, icy fingers squeezing inside her chest. Her baby was upstairs. Her baby. One stepped forward and Eileen looked up, she could only see his eyes. Steel grey. Unfeeling. Murderous._

_"The Dark Lord is not happy with your husband. He has rejected the pureblood ways. Here is his punishment." The Death Eater said. His voice was distinguished, aristocratic. It tingled a memory at the back of her mind. However, before she could further contemplate it, the man had already spoken a curse. "CRUCIO!"_

_Pain._

_So much pain._

_It was all she felt. She heard screaming from far away as she flailed on the floor. She realized it was her._

_A voice that sounded muffled in her pain then spoke, this time a woman's voice. "Crucio!"_

_Even with her pain muddled mind, she realized what has happening. Two people were performing the Cruciatus on her. At the same time._

_Tears leaked down her face mixing with the blood that was dripping from the cuts from the glass._

_There was no sense of time. It seemed to go one forever._

_Suddenly, she became aware that someone was saying her name and that the curse had stopped._

_"EILEEN! EILEEN!" The voice said frantically. Colors swirled around her and the blurry shape of glasses hovered over her face. But all she felt was confusion._

_"MUMMY! MUMMY!" And, like being struck by lightning, she regained awareness with a jolt. Unfortunately, this reawakened the pain, but more important things were on her mind. Actually, just one important thing._

_Cedric._

* * *

Cedric looked up at Mrs. Lovegood in curiosity.

"How're we gonna fix Harry?" He asked. Mrs. Lovegood just gave him an enigmatic smile. "What happened to 'im, anyways?"

"Ah, well it seems Harry ate one of the  _dulcem conspicere_  that are growing on that bush."

"Ate a what?"

"It also goes by the name of a 'disa-pear.'" She told him. Cedric just nodded his head pretending to understand.

"How are going to fix him then?" He asked pleadingly.

"There is no known substance that reverses the affects of a disa-pear." Mrs. Lovegood said happily as she played with Luna. Cedric's jaw dropped.

"What?! You mean he'll be like that for-for ever?!" Cedric cried. To his despair, Mrs. Lovegood just laughed.

"No, no. The affects wear off on their own." Cedric sighed in relief.

"When?"

"Oh, sometime between now and two hours from now. It can be very unpredictable which is why no one uses it for stealth and only for potions." Cedric nodded.

"Okay. Now what?"

"I suggest we find Harry."

"What do you mean?"

"He's not there anymore." Cedric let out a cry of surprise before frantically looking around for Harry.

"Where'd he go? HARRY! HARRY!" Cedric yelled.

"I think he's over there." Mrs. Lovegood said pointing over to where Cedric's stick appeared to be floating on its own. Running over, Cedric grabbed around to where he guessed Harry's arm should have been. Once he safely secured his little brother to himself, Cedric went back to Mrs. Lovegood.

"What are we going to do? I can't lose him! Mummy will kill me!" Cedric cried out. Mrs. Lovegood looked thoughtful.

"I suppose we should make him visible." Cedric looked at her in confusion.

"But you said we couldn't 'verse the defects of the dull constant, or what ever you called it!"

"No, we can't, but I have an idea for a temporary solution so at least Harry can't get lost from us."

"What?" Cedric asked.

"Come with me to the kitchen. Make sure to keep a hold on Harry." Cedric and his invisible brother followed Mrs. Lovegood and Luna back into the house. They walked into the kitchen and Mrs. Lovegood settled Luna into Harry's high chair. Then, she began looking through the cabinets.

"Ah-ha!" She said victoriously. In her hand was a bag of flour.

"What's that for?"

"I'll show you. Here, guide Harry to right in front of me." Cedric do so, and, without a warning, Mrs. Lovegood dumped the bag on Harry. Harry let out a delighted laugh and began clapping his hand at the flour that was still in the air.

"Woah! I can see him! He looks like a ghost!" Cedric said delightfully. Harry, who was snow white and now sitting in the flour pile on the floor, giggled.

"Cedric! Snow!" Harry laughed.

"There, now we can see him." Mrs. Lovegood said, satisfied.

"Yay!" Cedric laughed.

"Na'gles!" Luna giggled from her chair.

"Hey, Mrs. Lovegood, now that the Harry problem is fixed, could you help me clean my room?" Cedric asked. Mrs. Lovegood nodded and they went to Cedric's room, a trail of flour behind them.

* * *

Molly Weasley was normally a very genial person.

She was very friendly and mothering to her friends and children, though more strict with the latter. She was loving with family and a best friend to Eileen. It just did not come naturally to her nature to hate.

But Molly Weasley hated Lucius Malfoy.

She hated him to her very core. He was rude and arrogant and just plain evil. He hurt her family and he had hurt Eileen.

He had almost killed Eileen, actually.

So, as Molly held Eileen in the Leaky Cauldron as Eileen cried, reliving her worst memory, Molly felt her hate increase even more for Lucius Malfoy.

"I'm sorry, Molly. I'm just being silly." Eileen said shakily as she dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief.

"No you aren't!" Molly said, a bit more sharply than she had meant. "Oh, that man, though! If I could just get my hands on him!"

Eileen laughed weakly at her choking gestures. "Ah, that'd be the biggest blow to his ego. Taken down my not only a woman, but a blood traitor Weasley using Muggle methods."

Molly laughed while handing Eileen a glass of water. "Here, dear, drink up. You've just had a very emotional moment." Eileen drank a few sips before setting down the glass.

"I know, I mean I guess I shouldn't have been as shocked as I was. I've always known he was a Death Eater and that he'd been  _there_  and to find out at the apothecary of all places..." Eileen trailed off with a small shudder. Molly put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I know, I know. I don't know how I'll ever be able to go back there though. I'd hate to see him again." Eileen nodded in agreement to Molly's words.

"I wish there was another apothecary." Molly tilted her head to the side, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Why isn't there one? Like in Hogsmede? So students and teachers can restock there supplies?" Molly asked. Eileen shrugged her shoulders.

"It'd make since to have one there. Don't know why there isn't." Eileen became nervous at the calculating look on Molly's face.

"Why don't you open one?"

"What?" Eileen asked, surprised.

"You should open one in Hogsmede. You already love potions and plants, it'd be perfect!" Molly said excitedly.

"I don't know. What about the boys?"

"Take them to work with you! Hire a tutor! Just think, this would show Malfoy that he hasn't beaten you! A mother of two with her own highly successful apothecary!" Molly exclaimed. Eileen laughed.

"Well, when you put it like that! But what would I call it?"

"How about, uh, 'Eileen's Apothecary'?"

"That's boring. Oh! I know! Remember in fourth year when we decided that all things muggle were cool?"

"How could I forget! That's the year Arthur started noticing me! What about it?"

"Remember how we read those plays by the Muggle guy and one had witches brewing potions?" Molly thought for a second before nodding her head. "If I had a apothecary, I'd name it 'Macbeth's'!"

"After a Muggle play?"

"You bet! I think it would just help to rub salt in Malfoy's wound!" Eileen laughed, eyes sparkling in mirth.

"Macbeth's Potions and Ingredients. I can see it now!" Molly said. Eileen sobered and distractedly traced her fingers along the creases in the wood table.

"I don't know, Molly. It'd be really fun, but I don't know how I could do it with Cedric and Harry." Molly sighed.

"Well, talk with Amos about it. I just know you'd love it." Eileen nodded before looking up at the clock.

"Oh! It's already time for me to get home!" She exclaimed standing up. She gave Molly a friendly hug as she stood in front of the floo in the Leaky Cauldron. "Thanks Molly for shopping with me and for... earlier."

"I'm your best friend and I wouldn't have done anything different."

"That's sweet. I'll see tomorrow then?"

"Yes, and don't forget, Macbeth's is a location coming soon in Hogsmede!" They shared a laugh as Eileen grabbed some floo powder.

"Diggory Residence, Ottery St. Catchpole!" Eileen exclaimed as she threw down the powder. With a poof of powder, she was gone.

* * *

It was always very disorientating using the floo for Eileen.

With a cough, she stepped into her sitting room.

"Hello, Eileen." Mrs. Lovegood said warmly. She was sitting on the couch with Luna in her lap. Behind her on the floor was Cedric and Harry laughing as they played catch with Harry's floating stuffed snitch.

"Hello! Were the boys good?"

"Oh yes, splendid. I better go then. Xenophilius is waiting for me. He needs some help, we're starting a magazine." Eileen looked at her interested.

"Really?"

"Mmmm, yes. We're calling it 'The Quibbler'. We'll have articles about all sorts of things, like exotic magical creatures!" Mrs. Lovegood grinned. With Luna perched on her hip, the peculiar woman stepped into the floo and went home. Turing back to her boys, Eileen took a minute to drink in there presence. She loved them so much.

"Well, then, boys! Time for lunch! What're we having!"

"Sandwiches!" Cedric yelled.

"San'iches!" Harry mimicked. Eileen laughed as she walked into the kitchen.

"Well, okay then." However, the sight before her made her freeze in surprise. "Why is there flour all over my floor?" Eileen exclaimed. Cedric shrugged his shoulders while throwing the snitch back to Harry.

"I don't know, Mum. Maybe it was the house elves." He said innocently. Eileen raised an eyebrow.

"We don't own any house elves."

"Then no wonder it's not cleaned up." Cedric said before jumping off the floor. "Come on, Harry! I've got a training broom just your size, let's try it out!" Harry gave a happy squeal in agreement before toddling after his older brother. Eileen shook her head in amusement before waving her wand to clear up all the flour on the floor.

Those were her boys, and she wouldn't have them any other way.

* * *

**There you go! And, introduced in this chapter, I present more drama! I realized that I was somewhat making this story really rather fluffy so I decided it need some more substance. So, introducing Lucius Malfoy! Boy, I hate that guy! And, he so took over my plot! Eileen and Molly in Diagon Alley was supposed to be my B Plot for this chapter but then... Malfoy. He's so selfish, taking the spotlight from Cedric and Harry.**

**But, anyways, hoped you liked this chapter because it was a pain for me. Originally, I had this whole plot planned out and then, suddenly, I realized a problem. The whole thing was centered around Eileen leaving her FOUR-YEAR-OLD son with a TWO-YEAR-OLD unsupervised for an extended period of time. Now, I realize that Eileen may have some questionable morals (she did kidnap a baby), but she's not an idiot. No one would do that. So then I had to rework the whole thing, so this is what I got.**

**Oh, and if you were wondering, the name of the Disa-pear (ha ha, geddit? Like the fruit? Pears?) ' _dulcem conspicere'_ is Latin for 'Sweet See-through'. Or, that is what Google Translate told me.**

**I really hope you liked it! If you did, perhaps you could review?**

**Thanks to all those who have reviewed and I have been trying to PM a personal thank you to those who have, so I'm sorry if I missed anyone.**

**THANKS AGAIN!**

**Till next time...**


	5. In Which the Headmaster is Baffled

**DISCLAIMER: ME NO OWN HARRY POTTER :(**

* * *

It was perfect. Just as she had imagined it would be.

Well, okay, fine, that might've been a stretch, Eileen thought as she looked at her new establishment. Though the idea to open a store in Hogsmeade had been on her mind since the day Molly mentioned it, she never fully realized the plan till now, over a year later. It was late August, 1983, and Eileen Diggory now owned a shop.

The store itself was nothing special. It had been a pet shop for many years, but the old owner, injured from his time in the war against Grindlewald, had died a few years previous. The shop, with an old rusted sign that still read 'Keegan's Kreatures' hanging from the door, was actually rather decrepit. It was uncared for since the passing of the previous tenant and old materials, such as cages and old food, still littered the inside the building. But still, it was hers, so it was perfect. She just wished it didn't smell so bad.

Pulling her wand out, Eileen began to cast some cleaning charms around the shop. The debris on the floor was soon zooming around her, heading towards the bin she set to collect it all. Eileen felt very thankful that she could do magic as she saw the shop go from dump to manageable in no time. As the bin filled up, Eileen heard the door open.

"Molly, good you're here!" Eileen said. Molly crinkled her nose as she walked in, put off at the musty smell in the air.

"Could do with some work, yes?" Molly commented. Eileen laughed.

"Yeah, guess old man Keegan never had anyone clean the place."

"Was this the only building you could get?" Molly wondered.

"No, but this one's got a great roof for a rooftop garden. Fresh grown ingredients are the best for potions."

"Oh, do you plan on sell in plants as well?" Eileen snorted at the thought. "What's funny?"

"Well, it's just that I'm pretty sure Adair Dogweed wouldn't appreciate that."

"Who's that?"

"The cantankerous old man who owns that exotic plant shop down the street, Dogweed and Deathcap. He thinks I've come here for the sole purpose of stealing all his customers. Came marching in here yesterday demanding to know what I sell, when I told him this is a potion shop, he spit on the floor and called me thief! The nerve."

Molly laughed, making Eileen huff with indignation before joining in the laughter.

"Oh well, it's always fun to make an enemy." Molly joked.

"I suppose so. Better him than a Malfoy though." Molly sniffed angrily at the name.

"Oh, that man..." She mumbled under her breath, "One of these days..."

Eileen shook her head in amusement before returning to cleaning up the room.

* * *

It was not until September 15th, 1983 that Hogsmede gained a potions shop.

On that day was the grand opening of Macbeth's Potions and Ingredients, Eileen Diggory's brand new shop.

On it's first day, one could hardly move once they entered the store. Flocks of people had gathered to check out the new store (and because Eileen had spread the word that there would be free food). All in all, Eileen was very proud of her fledgling shop.

Standing behind the counter with Molly, Eileen scanned the room of people, looking for a familiar face.

"Oh look! It's Laurentia Fletwock!" Molly whispered to Eileen.

"Yes, yes, I know. I spoke to her earlier. Oh look- is that Devlin Whitehorn?" Eileen replied as she accepted some knuts from an eager customer.

"Where? Oh! In that corner?" Molly asked, standing on her toes to see over the people in the store.

"Yes, over there." Eileen said, gesturing to the intended area with her elbow while putting the money in the drawer.

"Oh, yes, I think it is. I wonder how his wife is doing. Maybe I'll go and ask-"

"Oh, not now Molly. I need your help behind the counter with me. More people came than I had expected."

"Fine, fine, but remind me later." Molly said before running to a back room to get some potions to restock the shelves. Eileen processed another transaction, but as she was putting the galleons away, she dropped one on the floor.

"Silly me." She muttered as she bent down to pick it back up. As she was on the floor, something banged against the wooden counter, startling her. "Ow!" She cried as she hit her head beneath the counter. Getting up, Eileen stifled a sigh of exasperation as she saw who had banged the counter.

Adair Dogweed was the epitome of wrinkles. Not one inch of skin was smooth, and within each crease of skin, was years of dirt that had practically melded into the old man. He always smelled of dirt, magical fertilizer, and kneazles. His mouth, permanently in the shape of a frown, concealed crooked teeth that always made those around him wonder why he didn't get them healed by magic. He gave off an aura of displeasure at all times, so it was no wonder why Eileen was no quite pleased to see the man across her counter.

"So." He began, his voice rough and the scent of smoke upon his tongue. Eileen smothered her disgusted grimace, forcing on an awkward smile.

"Ah! Hello Mr. Dogweed, what can I do for you today?" With a steely glare, the old man continued on, ignoring Eileen's words.

"So. Ya went 'head widdit, didja? Ya think ya can steal me loyal cust'mers from me?" Eileen sighed.

"Mr. Dogweed, we went over this before, I'm not trying to steal your customers. We don't even sell the same things!" She exclaimed.

"I sell plants, ya sell plants. Same thing."

"No, Mr. Dogweed, you sell  _exotic_  plants, I sell typical household plants and potions. It's different. My store is for common potions while people can buy from your store if they need more dangerous or rare potions. I am not stealing your customers." Eileen said, forcing her voice to stay calm and controlled.

"YES YA ARE! YA NO GOOD THIEF!" Adair screamed, fist in the air. He banged it on the counter and turned to the crowd of people, all of whom were now watching the exchanged with interest. "All of ya, listen, dis here woman is a thief, brainwashing all of ya to leave me store an buy here. My store's been there for fifty years, about. Ya can't let dis woman just walk in an kill it!" Eileen banged her head against the table in frustration.

"Look, Mr. Dogweed, you're going to have to go. You're disrupting my customers."

"My cust'mers." He grumbled angrily, his unclean breath once again assaulting Eileen's nose. He gave her another harsh glare before storming out the door. The store remained frozen for a second before the hustle and bustle returned.

"What a character, that man!" Molly laughed as she grabbed some knuts from a customer's hand. Eileen snorted.

"'A character'? Not the word I was thinking." Eileen remarked. Molly laughed again as the duo continued processing more and more transactions.

* * *

The store closed for the night many hours later. It had been an extremely successful first day, which gave Eileen hope for the future of the store. With weary bones, but a light heart, she went through the floo, eager to tell her husband the news.

"Amos! Oh, Amos! Great news!" Eileen called through the house as she stepped out of the floo. Immediately, she heard three sets of footsteps coming towards her. A few seconds later, two mops of brown hair whipped around the corner and collided with her legs.

"Mummy!" Nearly-six-year-old Cedric said happily, his head already up to Eileen's waste.

"Mummy!" Little three-year-old Harry echoed. Eileen reached down and gave each boy a hug.

"Amos, dear, why are the boys still up? It's rather late." She said as she watched Harry give a loud yawn.

"I thought they'd want to see you after your first day." Amos replied. As Eileen looked up, what met her gaze shocked her.

There Amos stood, looking as normal as ever- well, almost as normal. For, instead of his typical brown hair, the hair upon his head was a shockingly bright green.

"Amos! Your hair!" Eileen gasped. Amos looked confused, but quickly conjured a mirror. He frowned as he position the mirror to see the top of his head.

"Oh! Not again!" He huffed angrily once he caught sight of his viridescent hair.

"Again?" Eileen asked curiously, picking up Harry who had fallen asleep leaning against her leg.

"Yes, again!" Amos began to explain as he returned his hair to it's natural shade, "All day our boys have been having accidental magic attacks! With every cough, sneeze, giggle,  _blink-_ poof! My hair is black, green, blue, even chartreuse!" Amos exclaimed. ** _  
_**

"Chartreuse?"

"Yes! Chartreuse! A particularly violent shade of it, too! I have no idea why their magic seems to be focused on my hair, but it's rather bothersome." Amos finished with an annoyed huff as he collapsed in the nearest chair. Cedric climbed upon his lap immediately and fell asleep in his arms. "Our boys Eileen are the most tiring pair of children that I have ever had the misfor-  _ahem-_ pleasure of dealing with. I am almost entirely glad that I'll need to return to work tomorrow."

"Oh no!" Eileen exclaimed. "I just thought- who will watch the kids tomorrow? We'll both be at work!"

"Molly?" Amos suggested.

"No, no. I already made her help me today, but she had got her own brood to watch after since Arthur won't be available tomorrow. I don't want to leave her with two  _more_ kids to worry about." The two sat and pondered the predicament for a moment.

"Can't you take them with you to the store? Tomorrow the hype about a new store will have calmed down, especially since there won't be any free food. You'll have a steadier flow of customers, and it'll be easier to handle." Eileen thought about Amos' suggestion for a second.

"I like it! I have an extra store room in the back also, and I just had a thought- what if I turned that into a school room? Every morning, I'll tell the boys what to do, check in on the periodically throughout the day, and keep the store running out front! Ta-da! Both work and early schooling completed!" Eileen clapped her hands joyfully at her genius idea. Amos smiled at his wife's enthusiasm.

"Well then, it looks like it's settled! Now, let's get these boys to bed." Amos said, standing up. With that, Amos and Eileen carried the two Diggory boys off to bed.

* * *

"My hair! What has happened to my hair?"

Eileen grimaced at yet another cry of shock. What had seemed like a good idea the night before, had not panned out as well as she thought. With no one to supervise them constantly, both Harry and Cedric kept getting into mischief, as young boys were wont to do at that age. The two had made it a game to sneak out of the 'schooling room,' and into the main store, but their accidental magic was still going off. This meant that many customers were falling victim to atrociously coloured hair.

"It's only temporary, m'am!" Eileen said as she rushed over to the shocked woman with bright, purple hair. "I am  _so_  sorry! It's my boys- their starting to have accidental magic, and they keep turning peoples' hair different colours. I tried to keep them in the backroom, but they escaped." The woman, who's hair was back to being a dark auburn, did not look appeased, and, with a huff, left the store. Eileen sighed in frustration before looking around for the two little culprits.

"Ah-ha!" She cried as she spotted a small pair of shoes behind a shelf. "Come out. Now!" She said sternly. With his head hung in shame, out came little Harry. "Harrison James Diggory, what were you thinking? I told you and your brother specifically to  _stay in the backroom_ , and where are you now? Answer me."

"In da store." Harry mumbled, sounding rather miserable. It took all of Eileen's will power to not scoop him up, but instead remain stern. How in the world did Molly do it?

"Now, you are going to march yourself back to that schooling room and  _stay there._ Do you hear me?" Harry looked up at her, his emerald eyes wide and brimming with unshed tears. Eileen almost melted.

"Yes, mummy." Harry once again bowed his head, the perfect picture of mourning and despair, before marching away. Eileen then turned and began to search for the older Diggory brother. After a few minutes of no luck, Eileen just decided to call for him.

"Cedric Amos Diggory! Come here now!" She bellowed. The two customers browsing in the store turned to look at her before returning their gazes to the merchandise. Eileen heard a pair of shuffling feet behind her. She turned to see Cedric walking towards her from out of a nearby storage closet. "Cedric, I put y _ou_ in charge of your brother because I  _trusted_ you. I know you're rather young to be a babysitter, but all I told you to do was  _stay in the backroom_ , and yet, both of you keep leaving the backroom! And you know you can't control your magic yet! You keep scaring my customers away by colouring their hair! What do you have to say for yourself, young man?"

"I'm sorry, Mummy. I promise to stay in the backroom this time." Once again met with wide, sad eyes, Eileen felt her already weakened resolve soften a bit more.

"And I forgive you. Now go to your brother in the backroom and ensure that both of you remain in there. And start working as much as you can on those books I gave you to help you learn to read. I'll be back in a little to check on you two."

"Yes, Mummy." Cedric said before walking away.

Twenty minutes passed quickly as Eileen helped her customers and checked on the potions brewing in the back. Once she had checked out the last customer in her store at that moment, she decided she'd better check on her sons. As she approached the 'school' room, she already felt a since of dread as muffled angry voices met her ears.

"It's all your fault!"

"Nuh-uh!"

Eileen yanked open the door and quickly pieced together what was happening.

On the floor was one of the reading books Eileen had bought to teach Harry and Cedric how to read. It had been torn in half and the boys were clearly fighting over who caused the damage.

"Boys! Stop this now! I can easily fix the book." Eileen already had her wand out, a  _repairo_ on the tip of her tongue, but the boys appeared to not have heard her and the fight continued to escalate.

"It's all your fault!" Cedric yelled, angry tears on his face.

"Nuh-uh!" Harry repeated angrily, wiping furiously at his face. In a sudden move, Harry tackled Cedric to the ground. "Your fault!" He screamed.

"No!" Cedric yelled back pushing Harry. Eileen moved over to yank them apart, but was not quick enough to prevent what happened next. As Eileen moved forward, Harry had stood up and kicked his brother hard in the shins, but Cedric was unable to prevent the burst of accidental magic elicited from his angry feelings. Eileen watched in horror, as without warning Harry flew backwards and hit the wall with a smack.

"HARRY!" Eileen cried, running to the toddler as Cedric's eyes flew wide with shock and new tears sprang to his eyes.

"Harry! I've killed Harry!" Cedric cried and sank to the floor in sobs.

"No, Cedric, Harry isn't dead. He's just knocked out, but we need to get him to a healer quickly. I can't apparate when he might have a neck injury, so we need to get to Madame Pomfrey at Hogwarts quickly. Follow me Cedric."

* * *

Albus Dumbledore was baffled.

While many had heard these words in a sentence together, it was usually more like, "People were baffled by Albus Dumbledore." Never had those words been said in this particular order. But, at the moment, the statement was true. Albus Dumbledore, esteemed Headmaster of Hogwarts, sat at his desk feeling completely baffled.

Where in the world had Harry Potter gone?

The question had circled his mind since the day the boy disappeared, a little over two years before. He had searched Petunia Dursley's memory for clues, but found none. While the memory had clearly been tampered with, who ever had done it had put so much power that even the great Albus Dumbledore could not reverse it. He had tried to pick apart the memory spell put on Mrs. Dursley to find out how it became so impenetrable, but all that he could tell was that the great amount of emotion put into it made it so- the great amount of  _furious_ emotions, to be precise. It was a well known phenomenon in the Wizarding World that for some spells, if you were extraordinarily angry as you cast the spell, it increased the power exponentially. And this worried Albus Dumbledore greatly, for it meant that not only had little Harry Potter been kidnapped, but he had been kidnapped by an extraordinarily angry wizard.

Why was this wizard so very angry?

Maybe a scorned Death Eater, Albus had pondered on occasion. It was the only logical explanation that his brilliant mind could come up with. An angry follower of Lord Voldemort had come and taken the young savior in an act of revenge. But Albus did not like the implications of this theory. Not only did it mean that there had been some flaw in what he had thought was the strongest protection spells, but it meant Harry Potter was most likely not alive anymore. And the Headmaster did not like to think about that.

So what other theories could it be?

He was interrupted in his pondering by a loud trill as Fawkes, his beloved phoenix, appearing in a rush of flames on his desk.

"Ah! Fawkes! What pleasure do I owe this visit?" A loud trill was the response. "Really? Mrs. Diggory with an injured son? Yes, open the gate immediately and I will go alert Madame Pomfrey." The phoenix disappeared again to get someone to open the gate. Albus stood at his desk and left the room.

* * *

With a sigh of relief, Eileen watched as Hagrid opened the gates to Hogwarts.

"What brings yer here, Mrs. Digg'ry?"

"No time to chat, Hagrid, Harry needs Madame Pomfrey!" Eileen said, already rushing forward. The halls of Hogwarts were still ingrained in her memory, though she had graduated many years before, and she knew exactly where to go. She stopped occasionally to make sure Cedric was still following behind her, but they still arrived at the Hospital Wing in record time.

"Madame Pomfrey!" Eileen said urgently. The woman in question quickly came out to her.

"Ah, Albus told me you were coming. Here, set the boy down, he'll be fine in no time." Eileen gently set Harry down in the bed that Madame Pomfrey designated. She then backed away, collapsing in a nearby chair and closed her eyes.

"Eileen Diggory! How good to see you after these years!" Eileen jumped at the voice, eyes flying open in suprise. There before her stood the Headmaster.

"Headmaster!" She exclaimed, fixing her hair to look half-way presentable. He just laughed jollily as she did so.

"You're not my student anymore, so you don't have to look presentable. And call me Albus, my dear." Eileen laughed nervously with him.

"It's good to see you, Head- uh, Albus."

"Yes, yes. Perhaps next time you shall visit with out one of your children being injured." Eileen laughed again. "Now, please introduce me to these delightful children of yours!"

"Oh well, this is my oldest, Cedric. He is five, but he'll be six in October" Eileen said as she pulled the still sniffling Cedric to her side.

"Why are you crying, my boy?" Albus asked. Cedric wiped his eyes on his sleeve before answering.

"I hurt Harry!" He said miserably.

"Is Harry your brother?" Eileen did not hear the slight hiccup in Albus' voice when he said the name. Cedric nodded his head in response. "Then no worries! Madame Pomfrey will have your brother fixed up in no time!"

"Really?" Cedric asked. Albus nodded and Cedric's face lit up. "Yay! Mummy, did you hear that? Harry's gonna be all better!" Eileen laughed at Cedric's enthusiasm.

"So 'Harry' is your other child, I presume?" Albus asked Eileen as Cedric settled in the chair beside her.

"Yes, he is."

"And how old is he, if I may inquire?"

"He just turned three this August."  _Harry Potter would be about the same age_ , Albus thought. Before Albus could ask anymore questions, a tired voice was heard calling from across the room.

"Mummy?" Eileen and Cedric immediately went over to the now awake Harry. While Cedric climbed on the bed and began bombarding his little brother with kisses on the forehead, Eileen turned to Madame Pomfrey.

"Thank you so much, Madame Pomfrey!"

"No thank you necessary, but may I asked how this all happened?" Eileen began to explain all that had gone down at the store. When she had finished, Madame Pomfrey tilted her head in thought. "It seems to me that you just cannot leave these two unsupervised." Madame Pomfrey concluded.

"Hmm, yes, that is what I though too. But then what can I do?" Eileen asked desperately.

"May I make a suggestion?" Dumbledore asked.

"Of course, Headmaster!"

"I know many gifted wizards that would as wonderful tutors and would watch your children as you work."

"That's a wonderful idea!" Eileen exclaimed.

"Wonderful! I know just the person. Does the name Remus Lupin sound familiar?"

* * *

Eileen went home that night with a bundle of different feelings.

_Does the name Remus Lupin sound familiar?_

The question continued to loop in her mind. When the Headmaster had spoken those words, her immediate response was, "Nope, I have no idea who that is." And so the Headmaster had just explained that he was a very intelligent, young man who needed work. It sounded wonderful to Eileen so Albus gave her this Remus Lupin's address. But as she went home, it suddenly hit her.

_Does the name Remus Lupin sound familiar?_

Yes, it did. Remus Lupin was a friend of Lily and James Potter. With that thought all those things that Amos had told her two years ago hit her like a ton of bludgers.

_"You kidnapped Harry Potter!?"_

_"Don't you 'Amos, dear' me! Not nearly as bad as it sounds?! You kidnapped the savior of the wizarding world! Kidnapped! There are probably aurors already-"_

She was a kidnapper. A kidnapper. Not a 'forceful rescuer' as she convinced herself, but a full-blown kidnapper. The little boy that she had taken was just an orphan left to nasty relatives, who would have kept him and abused him all his life, but a little boy with another family member that would've cared about him- that family member being Remus Lupin.

Oh! Poor Remus! After losing three best friends, the fourth being a traitor, he loses his final connection to his friends- the little boy now sleeping in a bedroom upstairs. Eileen sat on the sofa crying as she waited for Amos to come home.

About fifteen minutes later, Amos stepped through the fire place, clearly in the middle of laughing.

"Oh! Hello dear! You should've heard the joke that-what's wrong?" Amos stopped mid-sentence once he caught a look at Eileen's tear-stained face.

"Amos! Amos, you were right! I am a kidnapper!" Eileen cried out in despair.

"What? No, no, Eileen! Remember? You  _rescued_  Harry! He was being abused by those people!"

"But Amos, all I would've needed to do was tell Albus or the Aurors what they were doing! Harry had other, more deserving family that would have taken him in!" Amos gave her a confused look.

"What? No, the Dursleys were his only relatives."

"No! There was still Remus Lupin! His parents' friend who lost literally everything because of  _me!"_ Eileen collapsed into another set of fresh tears. Amos sat next to her, slipping an arm around her shoulders.

"There, there, Eileen. The Wizengamot wouldn't have let Remus take Harry anyways."

"Why not?" Eileen asked. Amos frowned.

"I really shouldn't be telling you this, but if it will ease your guilt: Remus Lupin is a werewolf. I know because he is under the Werewolf Registration Act, which is in my department at the ministry."

"A-a werewolf?" Eileen asked faintly. Amos nodded grimly. "Oh dear, Amos. But will he still be able to tutor our children?"

"What?" Amos asked, surprised. Eileen recounted what had happened that day and the Headmaster's suggestion.

"Would it be safe for him to be with the kids?" She asked as she finished. Amos thought about it for a second.

"Well, he'd only be there during the day, and, if we gave him full moons off, it should be fine. But he might not want to work, anyways."

"Well, why not?"

"I heard that he's become something of a recluse these last few years." Eileen sighed sadly in defeat, before an idea struck her.

"What if I also offered Wolfsbane, that new potion for werewolves, as part of his pay? It's rather expensive to buy, but if I can learn to brew it..." Eileen trailed off.

"That seems like an offer I don't think he can refuse." Amos said encouragingly. Eileen clapped her hands in excitement.

"Yes! I'll go get a quill and some parchment! We've got a job offer to send!"

* * *

**:D**

**Did you like it?**

**I sure hope so. You know why? Because this chapter was literally the MOST FRUSTRATING THING EVER! ARRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH! CURSE YOU WRITER'S BLOCK! DIE! DIE! DIE!**

**Okay, I'm good. No, but seriously- I had to rework the plot of this chapter _so many times_ , it's not even funny. I think it turned out okay, but what I'd really like to know is how you thought it turned out, so-**

**Please review!**

**Thank you!**


	6. In Which Remus Gets a Job

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eh, ignore the author's note again. I'm just copying and pasting my story from fanfiction.net, and there, the last time I updated was in June. 
> 
> This is the newest chapter :D

**Author's Note: I'm so sorry! I took _forever_ getting this chapter out! I just got soooooooo busy with life and other stuff! But, yay! Here it is! :D**

**Hope you like it!**

**DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter does not belong to me.**

* * *

_Dear Mr. Lupin,_

_Hello! My name is Eileen Diggory. You may not know me, but you may know my husband- Amos Diggory. Anyways, I was just writing to offer you a position as a tutor and a nanny to my two boys- ages 5 (though he will turn 6 soon) and 3. Since I have opened my shop in Hogsmede, I find it impossible to watch my children as much as they need to be watched. After an accident this week that forced me to take my youngest to the Hogwarts infirmary, the Headmaster and Madame Pomfrey suggested I hire a tutor for my boys- and Professor Dumbledore recommended you._

_What the position would entail would be to watch my boys from 8 am to 6 pm- the hours that my shop is open. I have a room setup with desks and books and other materials in the back of my shop, so this is where you could watch them. You would also help start them with their schooling. My oldest, Cedric, has already been reading for about two years and is starting some minor arithmetic, while my youngest Harrison- or Harry- has only just started reading. I would leave it up to you to decide what curriculum, subjects, and materials you would like to use. And, while my boys are like most their ages, rowdy and mischievous, they are both very sweet and willing to listen to instruction. Also, you should be warned- they both been having many instances of accidental magic that results in anyone nearby having their hair turned into bright colours._

_As for pay, my husband suggested a rate of 50 galleons a week (10 galleons a day). You should be informed that, as Amos works for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, we are both aware of your condition. Due to this, we also will give you not only weekends off, but full moons and the day after full moons. In addition to this, I have begun to learn the Wolfsbane potion and, once I have it mastered, will provide it to you. While the going rate for tutors currently is 75 galleons a week, we figured that you wouldn't mind a deduction to be put in a fund to buy the ingredients for the potion. That being said, we are both willing to negotiate if you find that this salary is unfair._

_If you are willing to fill this position, please send my owl back with a response and a time and date when you may come over to our house to have an interview and meet the children._

_Thank you so much!_

_Sincerely,_

_Eileen Diggory_

* * *

Remus sat for a moment simply staring at the parchment in his hand.

What had he just read?

It had been two years since he even had any form of contact from the Wizarding World, and then suddenly- this. And, to top it all off, it was a job offer! From someone who knew he was a werewolf! And wanted  _him_  to watch her  _children!_ What in the world was she thinking? Children weren't safe around him!

His immediate assumption was that this 'Eileen Diggory' was just simply ignorant about werewolves- but he did know Amos, and Amos knew all about werewolves. It seemed way to good to be true. A job, a well paying one at that, doing what he always wanted to do- teach! And she even offered him Wolfsbane potion- the very potion he had been scraping funds together all year to save up for a bottle of! And, they even seemed accepting- even  _understanding_ of his condition! What was the catch?

Remus wondered if the Ministry put them up to it. Maybe the Ministry was trying to round up werewolves, and this was the lure to bring him in. Except- Remus knew that Amos wouldn't do that. Sure, the Diggory family had always been rather aligned with the Ministry, but not so much to corrupt itself to follow the Ministry. Maybe the whole things was just a scheme of Dumbledore's to bring him out of the Muggle world. It was true that it had been forever since Remus had stepped foot in a magical place- the last time he had even gone to Diagon Alley was, well, before James and Lily had- before  _it_ happened.

But then again, Remus thought, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. No one ever again, except maybe Dumbledore, would write to him offering him a job! Especially not someone who knew of his  _condition_! Though suspicious, Remus knew he would have to take up the offer, even just to find out why someone would offer it.

With a swift flick of his wand, Remus had a quill in hand and began writing a response.

_Dear Mrs. Diggory..._

* * *

Exactly one day, two hours, and 15 minutes late (yes, Remus counted) he stood awkwardly in the sitting room of the Diggory's home.

Having just arrived out of the floo, Remus looked around, and, seeing no one, called out in a timid voice, "Hello?"

"Hi!" Remus jumped slightly at the sudden response and looked around to see where it had come from. It had come from a small toddler peaking around at him from behind a chair. Remus smiled in amusement at the toddler, who had messing brown hair and...

Remus froze and blinked. Those eyes...why, for a second, it was like Lily was looking at him...Remus shook himself out of his ridiculous thoughts before kneeling down in front of the toddler.

"Hello there, I'm Remus." He kindly, sticking his hand out to the child. The child gave him a toothy grin before sticking his own hand out.

"Harry." Remus tried ignored the familiar name and the pang of sadness that hit him when he heard it.

"What are you doing back here, Harry?" Remus asked. Harry looked around suspiciously before turning back to Remus.

"Hiding from Cedric." Harry whispered. Both whipped their heads around at the sound of approaching footsteps. Harry gave Remus a frightened look, but Remus smiled warmly at him.

"Don't worry, young Harry. I'll make sure Cedric won't find you." With another grin, Harry ducked back behind the chair. Remus looked up as a woman with dark brown hair holding the hand of a small child entered the room.

"Harry, where are you? Mr. Lupin should be here soon and- oh!" Mrs. Diggory exclaimed in surprise. She looked up at the clock and her eyes widened. "Oh my! I completely lost track of time!" She set the little boy- Cedric?- down in the chair that Harry was hiding behind before turning to Remus. "I am  _so_ sorry! I hope you haven't been waiting long!" Remus gave a nervous laugh, rubbing a hand across his head.

"No, no, I just got here. No need to worry, Mrs. Diggory."

"Oh, please, call me Eileen." She said, gesturing for him to sit down.

"Well then, please, call me Remus." He responded taking a cup of tea from her. He sat nervously sipping it for a second. Now that the pleasantries were taken care of, it was down to the real business. Remus could tell he wasn't the only nervous one here. Mrs. Diggory- Eileen, he corrected in his mind- was fiddling nervously with her tea cup. They sat in silence for a second before Eileen cleared her throat.

"I, er, I hope you don't mind if we wait a minute or so for my husband to get home. He should be here soon." She said, avoiding eye contact by looking at the clock.

"No problem." Remus said quietly, taking a sip from his tea. He then began to look around the room in an attempt to ease his nervousness.

It was a large sitting room. Large enough to show to him that the Diggory family was well off, but still small enough to show that they were modest with their wealth. The well worn chairs and sofa made Remus believe that they often entertain guests, and, from the scuffled hard wood floors and scattered toys he saw peaking out from behind shelves an furniture, Remus guessed that a lot of children came over frequently. Or, at least he hoped that was the case. If only two kids could make all the wear and tear, then Remus was in for a lot of trouble if he took the job.

With a glance along the wall, Remus saw pictures throughout the years. Pictures from when Mr. and Mrs. Diggory were at Hogwarts together, then a wedding picture. The pictures following showed Remus how the Diggory family began to grow. First, a picture of a smiling Eileen, looking rather pregnant. Remus smiled as he saw the next picture- a smiling Eileen holding a new born baby. Remus wondered if it was Cedric or Harry. Looking around to see Eileen sitting awkwardly in the silence, he decided to use the question as an ice breaker.

"So," he began. His voice suddenly resonating in the silent room made Eileen jump, "I was looking at your pictures. You, uh, have a beautiful family." Remus winced at the compliment that sound stilted and forced to his ear. Nevertheless, Eileen smiled widely at him, her gaze scanning the pictures on the wall with a fond smile.

"Thank you!" She said. His plan had worked, for suddenly Remus saw she had lost the tension in her and she relaxed in the chair, smiling widely.

"Is this Cedric or Harry?"He asked, gesturing to the picture of Eileen and the newborn.

"Cedric, my little Cedric." She said, smiling at the picture. She got up and was looking at it, a finger tracing the edge of the newborn's face, who blinked sleepily in the magic picture. Remus could just barely see her face, as she was now facing the wall beside him, but of what he could see, he knew that Eileen had now adopted a strange expression. With a swift turn, Eileen went back to her chair, and, grabbing her tea cup, sat down. "We, uh, we don't have any newborn pictures of Harry. He was born on the run, while we were in hiding during the war."

Remus marveled at her sudden change in mood. One minute she was happy and relaxed- the next, full of nervous energy again. He chalked it up to being reminded of the war again- nobody liked that.

Silently nodding, he took another sip of his tea, the room returning to the silent state it was before.

Then, there was a giggle.

Whipping her head up in surprise, Eileen looked around. She turned to Cedric- who had fallen asleep in the chair, but was now sleepily waking up.

"Ced? Was that you?" Cedric looked at her quizzically, his mind still muddled from sleep.

While Eileen pondered the mysterious giggle, Remus knew exactly where it came from. Looking up, he saw a pair of laughing green eyes gazing at him from behind the chair.

And Harry giggled again.

Unable to hold back a small snort at the child's amusement, Remus ended up spilling a bit of tea down his chin. This, of course, was followed by and even louder giggle.

By now, Eileen had figured out the source of the giggle, her eyes being drawn to the area and spotting the little feet that stuck out ever so slightly. She smiled in amusement as Cedric slowly woke up more.

Harry continued giggling as Cedric, the only one in the room in the dark about the source of the giggles, woke up. Looking around as laughter filled the air, but unable to identify where it was from, Cedric turned to Eileen.

"Mummy?" He said sleepily. With his attention turned to his mum, Harry sensed his opportunity to strike. With a loud laugh, Harry jumped over the back of the chair- helped, Remus assumed, with an extra push of accidental magic- and onto Cedric.

"Got you, Ced!" Harry yelled, tickling his brother and laughing loudly. Cedric, now wide awake and ready to retaliate, grabbed Harry and flipped him over so Harry was laying on his back across Cedric's legs.

"Think you got me, Harry? Take this!" Cedric cried, tickling Harry as Harry laughed in joy, kicking his legs wildly.

Remus smiled at the scene, watching in amusement as the brothers continued trying to get the better of each other in their tickle fight. The boys, both laughing and screaming at the top of their lungs, distracted both Eileen and Remus for long enough that they both didn't notice the floo flare up as Amos Diggory arrived home.

"Hello!" Amos said, finally attracting the attention of his wife and Remus. Remus quickly set his tea down and stood up. Sticking out his hand, Remus began to introduce himself.

"Hello Mr. Diggory, I'm-"

"Yes, yes, you're Remus Lupin!" Amos interrupted in a jolly voice, "I'm terribly sorry I'm late. Something came up at work. I hope you two haven't been waiting for very long."

"No, we've been fine, Amos, dear. The boys have been entertaining us." Eileen said in amusement, still watching as the boys played together.

"Well, now that I'm here, I suppose we should get down the business, shall we?" Amos said, sitting down on the couch with Eileen. Remus nodded a bit nervously.

"Boys, go play upstairs." Eileen told Cedric and Harry. Laughing, the two boys hopped off the chair and ran to the staircase. "No running!" Eileen cried in vain, as loud echoes of running feet filled the room for a minute before the loud slamming of a door. Eileen shook her head fondly, murmuring under her breath,  _"Boys..."_

With a loud clap, Amos turned the attention back to himself. "Well, let's get started then! So, Mr. Lupin, as you already know, Eileen and I have a job offer for you..."

* * *

He had taken the job.

Remus still couldn't believe that he had, but it was true.

He had willingly accepted the job of working with  _children_  when he still had his condition to worry about! It was stupid and reckless, and yet- he had done it.

James and Peter-  _and Sirius,_ his mind supplied, but Remus ignored it- used to always complain about his cautiousness.

 _"Learn to take a joke, Moony!"_ They would laugh as he attempted to reign in some of there more  _extravagant_  pranks. And, while Remus had certainly loosened up a great deal in his time at Hogwarts, one thing he refused to joke about was his-  _furry little problem,_ James would call it. Remus had promised himself that he would never let anyone else be hurt by it, going so far to seclude himself in the muggle world away from civilization. And yet-

Here he stood, outside the door of Macbeth's Potions and Ingredients, multiple books in hand, wondering what in the world he had just let himself get pulled into.

Suddenly, the front door swung open and Eileen Diggory stepped out.

"Ah! Remus! Right on time! I'll show you through to where the boys are." She said cheerfully. Remus followed he as she led him back to a room. "The boys are just right in there. Good luck!" She said, and, with a quick wave, was gone.

Remus slowly cracked open the door, peering into the room. It wasn't a large room, but it was big enough to fit two small chairs, a chalkboard, a desk, and a bookshelf. Both boys looked up and smiled as Remus walked in, Harry giving him a large grin and a small greeting.

"Wemus!" Harry cried, still lacking some skill in pronouncing r's correctly.

"Morning, Harry. Morning, Cedric." Remus said as he stepped completely into the room. Cedric was sitting at his desk reading while Harry was colouring a picture at his. "What would you boys like to start with first today? Learning some letters? Arithmetic? Reading?" He asked the boys, unsure on how to start.

"Reading!" Cedric said. Harry nodded in agreement, going along with his older brother as, Remus would soon learn, he usually did.

"Alright then! Let's get started! I brought a favorite book of mine today to help you learn. Do you boys like  _The_ _Tales of Beedle the Bard_?" He asked. Both boys nodded enthusiastically. "Would you like me to read it to you?"

"I can read it  _all_ by myself!" Cedric said, puffing his chest out in pride.

"Can you? Good then! Here, you take this copy and read-"

"The Fountain of Fair Fortune!" Remus gulped as Cedric supplied his story choice. That story was the one he used to read to baby Harry when he babysat for James and Lily. He hadn't heard it since. Shaking his head, he gave Cedric a smile.

"Sure. And I'll read the same story to your brother and help him read, and when we're both done, we'll talk about the story, alright?" Cedric nodded, taking a copy of the book from Remus' hand before sitting back down. Remus then went and pulled a chair next to Harry's chair, setting the other copy of the book on the desk.

The knowledge that the first time he'd be reading the story in three years was going to be to another little boy named Harry was not lost on Remus.

"Let's get started, shall we?" Remus asked. Harry answered him with another little grin, and Remus started reading.

They went through the story slowly, as Remus read each word carefully, a finger trailing along the words so Harry wouldn't get lost. They'd stop occasionally so Remus could try and get Harry to read a word or two.

Finally, they reached the end, and Remus felt rather accomplished. Harry had managed to read almost a full sentence with minimum mistakes. It was enough that Remus had a rather light heart and had almost forgotten the morbid memories that were attached to the story earlier.

"Good job, Harry!" Remus exclaimed, looking up from the book to see the boy. But Harry was looking at him very strangely. "What is it, Harry?"

Harry was mouthing a word over and over again, staring at Remus. A look of confusion filled his face, his emerald eyes squinting at Remus.

"Harry?" Remus asked again. Harry's response almost made Remus' heart stop.

"Moony?"

* * *

In a daze, Remus made it through the rest of the day.

Harry would still look at him in confusion- though Remus now realized it was a look of confused recognition. One thing was for certain, and that was that Remus needed to speak with Eileen.

When the clocked said six o'clock in the afternoon, the woman in question popped her head in the door.

"Just closed up for the day!" She said cheerily, "How'd schooling go?"

"Fine, fine," Remus said dismissively, standing up he walked over to her, leaning his head down and saying in a urgent, hushed voice, "I need to talk to you. Right now."

Hearing his urgent tone, Eileen motioned for Remus to step out and for the boys to stay in the room.

"What is it, Remus? Something wrong with the boys?" She asked.

"Why don't you have any baby pictures of Harry?"

"What?" Eileen was shocked at the out of the blue question. "I-I told you. He was born in hiding, we couldn't-"

"Couldn't bring a camera? There are plenty of pictures of Cedric in those years. Why not Harry?" Eileen winced at Remus' harsh voice.

"Remus! Where's this all coming from?"

"Harry called me 'Moony' when we were reading." Eileen was sure that Remus had lost his mind.

"Harry makes up names for everyone, I'm not sure how that has to do with his pictures." She replied, nervously ringing her hands together.

"Moony was my nickname at Hogwarts. James Potter gave it to me. Now, do you understand?  _Harry_ called me 'Moony.'" Remus said, his voice barely holding back anger. Eileen's eyes widened, now completely understanding the implications of the nicknamed.

"Oh." She said softly, unable to think of anything else to say.

"'Oh'? Is that all you have to say for yourself? I thought he was  _dead!_ But no! He's been with you this whole time, hasn't he?"

Eileen furiously brushed aside the tears gathering in her eyes. "You don't understand, Remus!"

"I don't understand? I DON'T UNDERSTAND? What's there to understand?! You  _kidnapped_ him!  _Stole_ him! My last link to James and Lily, and I thought he was dead!" Remus struggled to put a cap on his anger, but it was hard.

Harry Potter was dead. That thought had been haunting him for years. First James and Lily, then Peter, and then little Harry-  _gone._ He had been alone so long, blaming himself for not protecting the last remnant of life when he was happy and now this? Harry was here, Harry was alive! Remus wasn't sure if he wanted to cry for joy, weep in pain, or scream in anger. Leaning against the wall, Remus breathed heavily, trying to gather his thoughts.

"We need to tell Dumbledore." Remus said finally. Eileen's eyes widened in fear.

"No!" She cried in more fervor than Remus expected. The rejection of Dumbledore was enough to stop Remus' anger, replacing it with shock.

"What? Why? He needs to be told!"

"No, no, no! Remus! You don't understand! Do you want to know why I took Harry?" Truthfully, Remus was a bit too angry for her explanations, but he nodded nonetheless. "They were  _abusing_ him, Remus! The people Dumbledore stuck him with!"

"What?" Remus exclaimed, eyes wide, searching Eileen's face for any hint of deception. Finding none, he asked, "Who was he with? Dumbledore refused to tell me."

"The Dursleys." Eileen responded. Remus' eyes, if possible, widened even more.

"Lily's sister? But, she hated Lily!" Remus said, anger suddenly transferring away from Eileen and onto Petunia Dursley.

"I figured that out when she decided that she would hit a baby hard enough to knock him to the floor." Eileen said, eyes filled with hate as she remembered the woman who hurt the child who would become her son.

"I understand removing Harry then, but why didn't you just tell Dumbledore what was happening?" Eileen sighed in frustration at Remus' question.

"Truthfully, at the time it was all such a rush, I simply wasn't thinking. But Amos and I talked it over and we both firmly believe that Dumbledore must have wanted Harry there, and even if we would've told him, Dumbledore would've wanted Harry to stay anyways." Remus struggled with the thought that Dumbledore would willingly place Harry in an abusive household.

"Why in the world would Dumbledore do that?" He asked.

"Think about it! Why would Dumbledore place Harry with a muggle family, regardless of blood relations, when a magical family could do so much better with protecting him with wards and secret keepers and the like? There must be something about the family that would offer Harry an even stronger protection than what a magical family would offer!"

"So then you willingly took Harry away from better protection?" Remus challenged.

"No protection on the outside is worth the suffering on the inside that I'm sure Harry would have gone through with that family." Eileen responded, a steely glare in her eyes.

"How do you know that Dumbledore wouldn't have thought the same thing and removed Harry?"

"I'm not certain, but I refused to take any chances when it comes to the life of a child."

Remus sighed. Eileen had argued her points very well and Remus could feel himself siding with her in the situation. Truthfully, Remus knew that if he had been in her shoes, he would have done the exact same thing.

"Fine, fine. I won't tell Dumbledore, I won't tell anyone. Harry is safe and happy with you." Eileen smiled widely.

"Oh! Thank you, Remus!" She said, moving in for a hug. Remus stopped her before she could.

"Just one last thing. Why in the world is Harry's hair brown? It was black as can be last I saw him." He asked. Eileen laughed nervously, suddenly refusing to meet Remus' eyes.

"Ever heard of a blood adoption?"

Remus almost choked.

* * *

**I hope writer's block isn't contagious, but if it is- all you other writer's stay far, far away from me.**

**I struggled TREMENDOUSLY with this chapter. From the plot, to the content, to simply just the chapter title, I had no idea where I was going with it. That's probably because it's not actually one of my originally planned chapters. Typically, I was going to move forward about a year every chapter, but then I decided that I wanted to show Remus' reaction and stuff. So...here you go.**

**You better like it and review because that chapter was the bane of my existence for like two whole months.**

**:D**


	7. In Which Arthur Goes to the Dentist

**Author's Note: Here's the next chapter. Too lazy to write a long note here. More stuff at the end...**

**Oh! But I will say this: I've drawn some cover art for this story! If you want to see it up close, go to my profile and you'll find the link.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter.**

* * *

Some call it the butterfly affect.

You know, that theory that the one thing that was so  _small,_  so  _insignificant,_ that it never seemed like it would affect anything, would end up being the one cause that lead to your entire future?

To the Dursley family, that one small, insignificant thing was Harry Potter.

It was November 9th, 1984 and the Dursley family was going to the store. It was hardly the most exciting trip in the world, but it was normal, and normality ranked quite high on the list of the Dursley's priorities. Perhaps the only thing that ranked above it was the Mr. and Mrs. Dursley's rather portly four-year-old son, Dudley.

And, while the trip seemed like a perfectly normal, perfectly delightful trip to the store, it was not going to turn out that way- though it would have, if not for the fact that exactly three years before Eileen Diggory had not stormed in and taken little Harry Potter out of their lives.

In one world, a world with cupboards and chores and slaps on the face, little Harry Potter would've been preparing to go on this trip to the store. He would've quietly gotten ready, quick as he could, before standing quietly at the door. Then, right as the Dursleys would have left, Dudley would've thrown a fit that his cousin had to come. This would had lead to a tantrum from Dudley. Mr. and Mrs. Dursley would have then spent twenty minutes attempting to calm the boy down, followed by another fifteen minutes hunting down someone willing to watch Harry while they were at the store.

In that world, the Dursley family would have left almost an hour later than they had planned to go to the store.

But this was not that world.

So, in this world, where the Dursleys had one less burden, and the Diggorys had one more to love, the Dursley family left exactly on time.

And that changed everything.

* * *

"Vernon, slow down." Petunia Dursley said from the passenger seat.

"Pet, no! I'm not going to act like a wuss and let this hooligan pass me! Dursley men are made of stronger stuff than that!" Vernon said, puffing his chest as far as he could before his stomach was squished against the steering wheel. Vernon's eyes flicked to the rear view mirror to look at his son in the back. "You here that, son? Never let a man pass you on the road! You must be in control always of other drivers!"

Dudley ignored his father in favor of the collection of toys that had accumulated in the back seat.

"Vernon!" Petunia cried as her husband made a particularly violent jerk with the steering wheel. She was clutching the side of door with all her might, her other hand on her heart as she breathed in deeply.

"Don't you worry, my dear! I have it all under control. I am the master of this road! The other drivers shall respect me!" Vernon cried, almost manically, as he swiftly passed another car.

Perhaps all would have been fine if the Dursleys had left an hour later, as then the traffic would have cleared up quite a bit, but, as it was, the roads were crowded.

"Ha! You think you can tailgate me?" Vernon yelled, looking back at the car following close behind him. As he pressed his foot down on the pedal more, Vernon completely missed his wife's strangled gasp as he immersed himself in making fools of the other drivers.

Though immersed in his little games, it would have taken a blind, deaf, and dumb gorilla to miss Petunia's shriek of, "VERNON! LOOK OUT!"

Startled from his competitive daze, Vernon Dursley managed to serve his car out of the way of a speeding semi-truck pulling onto the highway in the nick of time.

"IDIOT!" Vernon cried at the truck,"YOU COULD HAVE KILLED US!" After that, Vernon started driving a bit slower as traffic cleared up and they reached their destination of the store, all the while completely oblivious to all the wreckage behind them.

* * *

As it would turn out, it was not the truck driver's fault that he almost hit the Dursley family. Vernon had been exceeding the speed limit by so much, that, when the truck driver saw it was clear to pull into the road, Vernon managed to swoop right into his blind spot. With quick reflexes, the trucker managed to avoid hitting the family, but it hurt the balance of his truck which was loaded completely with furniture. Tipping over, the truck tumbled into the road, blocking off the incoming cars. Luckily, no one was hurt except the driver, but his injuries were rather minor.

Unluckily, the entire road was now blocked off, causing a traffic jam that spread all the way down the road.

This was very bad for one particular family.

Mark Granger hummed nervously as he, once again, stretched his neck in a useless attempt to see what had cause the awful traffic jam.

"You'll strain yourself if you keep doing that." Janine Granger, his wife, remarked. In the back seat, their young daughter, Hermione, nodded her head at her mother's words.

"Yes, daddy, mum's right. You don't want to pull your sternocleidomastoid muscle." While some may have been surprised at the little five-year-old's large words, the Grangers were quite used to it.

"Yes, yes, I suppose you're both right. It's just, if this traffic doesn't clear up soon, we're going to be late! Mr. Adkins is quite fickle, and I know he won't hold the deal if we're late." Mark said. Mark and Janine Granger were both dentists and, as such, had been looking for a new building to establish their own practice. They had found one that was perfect, owned by a man named Robert Adkins, but someone else was also trying to buy it. Mr. Adkins, who was cranky and yet quite susceptible to the charms of the Granger's daughter, had told them that if, and only if, they were able to meet him in person at the location to dicuss a deal, then he would sell it to them.

But Mr. Adkins wanted to meet the Grangers at percisely 12:15 pm.

Mark glanced at the clock, gulping.

12:12 pm.

"Stop looking at the clock, dear. You're making me nervous." Remarked the ever calm and collected Janine.

"We should be nervous! This building was perfect! Great location, great price! We'll never find another building like it!" Mark exclaimed. Hermione looked up from her much-to-advanced book at the unexpected outburst from her usually quiet father.

"Oh, shush, dear. Never find another building like it? I'm sure I could find a thousand buildings just like, or even better, than this one. You get attached to things too quickly." Janine said, rolling her eyes. Seeing her husband unable to respond, Janine continued talking, "Anyways, I already planned ahead for such an occasion as this. I had a feeling that we wouldn't be able to live up to the demands of the esteemed Mr. Adkins."

"Really? What did you have in mind?" Mark said, trying to calm himself down.

"Remember when I was telling you about that little town I visited when I was a child? It turns out that the local dentist office there shut down a few years back. The building has just been empty, and the people have been complaining about the commute to the next town's office. I talked to the current owner of the building, and she said that all of the chairs and desks are still in there and she's willing to sell it for a decent price."

"Why didn't you mention all of that earlier? That seems like a perfect deal."

"Well, we won't be able to move in until next month. I thought you'd want something sooner." Mark once again glanced at the clock as his wife finished speaking.

12:17 pm.

"I'm not sure we'll have much of a choice in the matter. I don't want to have to go through a whole other hunt for a building, so what you found will have to do. What town did you say it was in?" Mark answered, already anticipating the angry call from Mr. Adkins that was sure to come.

"Ottery St. Catchpole."

* * *

Amos Diggory gave a relaxed sigh as he sat down in his chair, Daily Prophet in his hand. It was December 18th, 1984, and Amos had the day off and the whole house to himself.

Eileen was at her shop, preparing for the winter crowd who would come in, eager to buy potions and ingredients as gifts for aspiring potioneers. Remus, who was enjoying his job immensely, had asked to take Cedric and Harry on a field trip for the day, so the trio was off at the Museum of Magical History. They had invited Amos to come along, but Amos had turned down the offer, eager to enjoy just a quiet day to himself.

Reveling in the somewhat strange silence of the house, Amos sat back and open up his newspaper.

However, just moments before Amos could start reading, a loud bang started him from relaxation.

"Who's there?" Amos yelled, having heard the front door just bang open. Around the corner came Arthur Weasley with a wide smile on his face. It gave Amos all sorts of bad feelings.

"Amos! You'll never believe it!" Arthur said giddily. Amos stood up, setting down his newspaper with a weary sigh."

"Believe what, Arthur?"

"A dentist has moved into town!" Arthur cried happily.

"A  _what_?"

"A dentist! It's a muggle thing. They do things with teeth or something, I think. But there's a  _real life dentist_ in town!" Arthur said, adding stress to his last words, hoping that Amos would finally get excited over it. Instead, Amos just stared blankly at Arthur.

"So?" Amos finally said. Arthur gave him a scandalized look.

"'So?' SO?! That's all you can say? Amos! This has been my dream! I have always wanted to meet a chemist!"

"I think you mean dentist. And I thought your dream was to make a flying car." Amos replied. Arthur frowned.

"That  _was_ my dream, but Molly caught wind of it and made me write a law against it." Arthur mumbled something that sound suspiciously like "loopholes," but continued before Amos could dwell on it, "My dream  _now_ is to meet a dentist. I simply must know how they do all the things they do! Like drilling holes in teeth! And I even heard they have a gas that makes people laugh!"

"Well, then go meet the dentists." Amos said, eager to return to his quiet afternoon.

"I was going too, but Molly said I'm not allowed in town with muggles unsupervised." Arthur said. He turned to Amos, and over exaggerated pout on his face.

Amos gave a frustrated sigh. "Oh fine, I'll go with you. Don't make me regret this!"

In hindsight, Amos thought, that probably just jinxed it.

* * *

The little bell the hung above the door rang, alerting Janine that potential patients had just walked in.

Coming out of the back room to greet them, Janine paused at the strangers' peculiar appearances.

One was a short, red-headed man. He wore a horrendously coloured sweater covered in strange geometric patterns. This he had paired with sweatpants that clashed terribly with his sweater. The man next to him, an average height man with brown hair and an annoyed expression, wore clothes that, while not as hideously coloured as his companion, were no less strange.

He wore a dark navy plaid leisure suit, with bell bottoms that flared so much that Janine could not even see his shoes. He also wore, strangely enough, a safari hat. Janine had no idea what to make of that.

The brightly coloured man came over to greet her, shaking Janine from her shocked stupor.

"Hello there! I'm Arthur Weasley!" The enthusiastic man said as he stretched his hand out.

"My pleasure." Janine said warily, watching as Mr. Weasley's eyes scanned the room with fervent gaze. The other man in the safari hat came up beside Mr. Weasley.

"Amos Diggory." He said, reaching his hand out as well. Janine shook both their hands, still somewhat confused as to what was happening.

"I'm Dr. Granger, or one of the Doctor Grangers. My husband is the other. Is there something I can help you with?" Janine asked, switching into her business mode which helped calm her mind.

"I'd love to schedule an appointment!" Mr. Weasley said, eyes glittering in excitement.

"Oh! When would you like it for?" Janine asked, pulling out a pen and her appointment book.

"Would right now be okay?" Janine blinked in surprise.

"Now? I, uh, I suppose so." She told him, jumping at the passionate clap he gave at her response.

"Wonderful! I've never been to the dentist before! This is so exciting!"

* * *

"Comfortable?" The nice dentist lady- Dr. Granger had she said?- told Arthur.

"Oh yes! This chair is quite magnificent!" Arthur replied happily. This was so exciting! He watched with curiosity as Dr. Granger pulled out a selection of tools and set them on a nearby tray. The tools were silver and shining- and, Arthur noticed with faint nervousness, rather pointy.

"I'll just do a regular check up and cleaning." She said, grabbing one tool that had a small mirror on it. She hit some sort of button and Arthur refrained from jumping as suddenly his chair tilted backwards. She handed him a pair of sunglasses and turned on a bright light above his head. "Open wide!"

Arthur's eyes widened as the dentist's hand was suddenly in his mouth. What strange customs these muggles had! Dr. Granger then grabbed a tool with a small hook on the end and began picking at his teeth.

"Well, overall, besides some minor plaque buildup you're teeth seem fine- oh! Oh, well it seems there is a small cavity back here on your upper right molar." She said. Arthur gulped. A cavity? What was that? Was there some sort of hole in his tooth?

"Can you fix it?" Arthur asked worriedly.

"Oh yes, it'll just be a quick filling." She answered as she began cleaning his teeth. Once she was done, she turned and asked him, "When would you like to schedule an appointment for your filling?"

"Can you do it now?" Arthur asked. Dr. Granger considered it for a moment, before sighing.

"I suppose so. Let me get my husband, I'll need some help, and since our dental hygienists haven't arrived yet, he'll have to do." She then turned and left the room.

Arthur sat nervously in the chair. On one hand, this was a wonderful experience in which he was learning amazing amounts of muggle culture! But, on the other hand, the muggle dentists were about to do some procedure on him to fill a whole in his tooth. Soon enough, the dentist lady returned, this time with a man.

"Hello! I'm Dr. Mark!" The man said as he began pulling out a few tools from a drawer.

Arthur took a moment to look at both dentists as they prepared the materials for his filling.

Dr. Janine Granger was a beautiful, if rather severe, looking woman. Her dark brown hair was pulled up tightly in a bun, and, when paired with her dramatically arched eyebrows and dark lips, she looked very much like a successful, well kept, business woman. Dr. Mark Granger, however, was very...loose was all Arthur could think of to describe it. He had wild curly brown hair and thick glasses that kept slipping down his nose. While his wife exuded grace and dignity, Dr. Mark just looked like a worried little man who had just forgotten what he was doing- a trait that was not very reassuring for his patience, Arthur was sure.

However, as Arthur soon found out, once Dr. Mark got to work, he looked like a man on a mission who refused to fail.

"How exactly does this work?" Arthur asked as the husband and wife continued setting up.

"Oh, it's quite simple, really. We'll just dab a little anaesthetic on your gum around your tooth, drill a little whole, and then fill it with this gold filling." Dr. Mark answered.

"Gold?! You're going to put  _gold_ in my  _tooth_? Why ever would you do that?" Arthur exclaimed.

"Gold is much better material for filling than what we had been using before." Dr. Janine answered, and, while that didn't really answer Arthur's question, Arthur decided against pursuing the line of inquiry. It must just be a muggle thing, he assumed.

"What does the ane-ana-any-anaethestic stuff do?" Dr. Janine raised her eyebrows in surprise that he did not know already, but answered anyways.

"It will simply numb the area a bit as to avoid causing you pain." Arthur nodded before pausing in shock.

"Wait-numb?" But before he could continue, the dentists shushed him and began to work.

* * *

It was a little known fact that a wizard should never willingly numb themselves.

No one knew the exact reason as to why not, since no one ever tried it, but most speculated that perhaps it was because a wizard's body needed to feel it's magic. A wizard, though perhaps not consciously aware of it, had magic pulsing through their every muscle, every vein, a constant presence. Those who speculated shuddered to think about what would happen if a part of their body could no longer feel it's magic.

Well, Dr. Mark and Janine Granger were about to find out.

Arthur tried to warn them, but before he could say anything, a finger was in his mouth with a tube of the anaethestic. Arthur tasted a bitter flavor and could feel as the anaethestic began to work. There was a tingling in his mouth, and it was slowly moving towards his fingers. Throughout his body, Arthur could feel his body reacting to the sudden loss of feeling in his gum. Briefly, he wondered if it was a defense mechanism in his body to try and restore his magic, but his thoughts were interrupted when he saw a tube toothpaste suddenly floating in the room.

He was loosing control of his magic.

In a room with muggles.

Oh dear.

Arthur desperately hoped that the muggle dentists were completely engaged in their work. Another tube of toothpaste floated by, and Arthur began to panic.

"Calm down, Mr. Weasley. This'll be over soon." Dr. Mark reassured him. Arthur wasn't so sure about that though, watching with morbid curiosity as the toothpaste bottled began to open-

And squirted all over the wall.

"What in the world?" Dr. Janine said having looked up at the sound. Suddenly their was toothpaste all over the wall. She shook herself from the distraction, filing it away as something to think about later, and switched back into business mode. She had a patient to work on.

Arthur almost fainted at the breach of the Statue of Secrecy. Merlin, he was going to get fired.

And then Molly was going to kill him.

With that thought, he actually did faint, which, unfortunately, let off a string of magical bursts that blew up all the light fixtures in the building.

All in all, it was a very successful dental appointment.

* * *

"I can't believe you let them numb you! You knew what would happen!" Amos exclaimed as they left the dentist office, a very confused and distraught Dr. and Dr. Granger still inside.

"No, technically, I only knew what others  _thought_ would happen." Arthur argued feebly.

"And it's exactly what did happen! You're lucky that those muggles just thought it was cheap wiring, or  _both_ of us would have been fired!" Amos said angrily.

"I know, I know. Just-just can we  _not_ mention this to Molly?"

"Yes, because if we do, I'm sure she'll kill me too- for aiding and abetting. Now, what will we do with the muggles? I feel awful about leaving them with all those broken lights, but I don't know how to fix them." Arthur nodded in agreement with Amos' words.

"Yes, me too. We simply must do something to help." The men stood and thought for a moment before Arthur had an idea. "Oh! I know! We'll invite them over for lunch, and, while they're out with us eating, someone will come here, do a quick repairo, and we'll just tell them we had it fixed as a welcoming gift!"

"Yes, yes! That should work! And, we'll just tell Molly and Eileen we're just welcoming them to the neighborhood. I saw a picture on their wall with a little girl who I'm sure is their daughter, so we'll mention that too. Our wives will adore the idea of welcoming the new little family into the neighborhood!" Amos exclaimed. The two men, newly energized with their genius plan, re-entered the dental office with an invitation.

* * *

"You did  _what?!"_ Molly exclaimed. Arthur blanched, this was not going according to plan at all.

"I invited the new dentist to lunch tomorrow with our family and Amos'." Arthur said again.

"You invited the new  _muggle_ family to lunch with us and our collective  _nine magical_ children, most of which are still suffering bouts of  _uncontrollable accidental magic?!"_ Well, when Molly put it like that, Arthur did see the slight flaw in the plan.

"Molly, dear, I assure you, it will all go fine!" Arthur reassured her. Molly still glared at him, even as she started writing down the things she would need to cook for the lunch.

"Fine. You better hope this goes well, Arthur! And I shall leave it up to you to explain to the children how to act around muggles!" Molly said, swiftly turning into the kitchen.

Arthur sighed, already preparing how to explain how to act around muggles to his kids.

He only hoped everything had gone better for Amos'.

* * *

Amos could only hope that everything had went well for Arthur, as he watched his beloved wife fume.

"Of all the stupid things to do! Nothing against muggles, of course, but you do realize, Amos, that our sons are ages four and seven and  _regularly change other peoples' hair colours?_ I mean, really! What were you thinking?!" Eileen exclaimed. Amos grimaced her enraged expression.

"Well, you see, it was Arthur's idea after we went to the dentist-"

"You two went  _where?!"_ Amos winced at his slip.

"Uh, the dentist, my dear. It's, er, new in town and Arthur wanted to welcome them." Amos said, desperately thinking of excused.

"'Welcome them'? I assume by this you mean Arthur wanted to fool around with all their muggle gear?!" Amos saw no point in denying it and feebly nodded his head. Eileen made an annoyed sigh. "What will Molly and I ever do with you two? Isn't it enough I have two small children, I most certainly don't need you as a third! But, I suppose it can't be helped. It'd be rude of us to just not invite that family to lunch. I'll leave it up to you to explain to Cedric and Harry how to behave around muggles. Now, when again did you say you invited them over for?"

Amos hesitated before answering. "Er...tomorrow."

"Amos!" Eileen exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air before walking briskly out of the room.

* * *

The next day came quicker than both Molly and Eileen would have liked. After a tireless night of preparing and coaching their children and cooking food, both women just wanted to rest. But, alas, they could not. They had a picnic lunch to go to and both wanted it to go perfectly.

They arrived at their normal picnic spot where both Diggory and Weasley family typically met once a week for a nice lunch and get together, but it seem oddly empty without their floating canopy and decorations. The children, instead of running excitedly towards the location as they usually did, shuffled their feet slowly, upset that they would only be able to play with the 'stupid' muggle toys their mums had provided.

Cedric fiddled with the frisbee that Amos had been given when he was younger, desperately wishing it was was his training broom instead. Fred and George attempted kicking the football Arthur had given them, but all the Weasley siblings agreed that it would be much cooler if it would only float a little. Overall, none of the children really was looking forward to the picnic.

"Ah! There they are!" Arthur said. Both families look over, gazing with interest at the approaching family of three.

"Hello!" The little muggle girl between the dentists said. "I'm Hermione Granger and I'm five years old!" She said enthusiastically, her bushy brown hair bouncing with every word.

Molly and Eileen smiled at the girl and beckoned for her to come over to where the other children were.

"Children! This is Hermione, please help her feel welcome." Eileen said. Molly then had the kids line up and introduced them.

"This is Bill, he's fourteen, Charlie, who's twelve, Percy, who's eight, Fred and George, who are both six, little Ron, who's four, and finally, baby Ginny. She's three. That's all of my bunch. The two little boys who aren't red heads are Cedric, who is seven, and Harry, who is four like Ron." Hermione looked rather overwhelmed at the amount of people, nodding along with every name, a dazed look on her face.

"Hi!" Hermione said, waving shyly at the group. The nine wizarding children looked at her with interest as she was the first muggle child they had seen up close. Seeing no difference physically with her, the group warmly greeted her back, with Harry and Ron coming up to her, as they were closest to her age, with little Ginny following after.

The magical parents watched with relief as Harry and Ron- who had remained close friends since the biscuit theft incident three years before- quickly pulled Hermione into their little group. Though worried at first that the children would soon get bored of the simple muggle toys, the parents soon found that Hermione made up for whatever magic was lost from the toys. The little girl was able to entertain all the children, even the oldest children, with her fantastic tales from the books she read, and soon all ten kids soon were running around pretending to be pirates and heroes like those Hermione had described from her stories.

And the three families were able to enjoy a nice lunch together, completely incident free.

(Well, that wasn't exactly true, for afterwards Amos counted eight account floating objects, six time there were missing treats from places children shouldn't be able to reach, and one incident in which Dr. Mark's hair suddenly turned blue. Oh, and then Arthur had to sneak off and repair all the lights at the dental office. But, as far as the muggles knew, it was a perfectly normal picnic lunch.)

* * *

Many miles away from where a little gathering of three families went on, a certain headmaster sat in his chair, fingers tips pressed together, with a calm look on his face that hid the emotions that he felt inside.

_Could it really be true...?_

Albus Dumbledore thought back to the words that were just told to him from the floo. He could scarcely believe it was true! But, no matter his own personal feelings on the matter, for whether or not it was true, the information needed to be looked into.

With a deep breath, Dumbledore stood from his desk and walked to his fire place, the message so recently revealed to him still circling his mind.

_"We have found Harry Potter..."_

* * *

**:D**

**I can't believe it! This is the first time in months that I've updated so quickly! Only 1 week and 4 days since the last update, and here I am again!**

**This chapter didn't exactly go as I had originally planned, but hey- close enough. It was certainly longer than I thought it would be. I hope it's not to silly of me to just bring the Granger family in, but, hey, my story so I guess I can bring them in if I want to. Just think of all the tiny adventures the little Golden Trio will have :)**

**Anyways, I'm hoping I can get the next chapter out soon too. Unfortunately...school has started again, so that will probably bring delays. But, we can hope...**

**Well, I hope you liked the chapter! I'm not so sure about the beginning of it...or the middle...or the end...but whatever.**

**READ AND REVIEW! IT PLEASES ME!**


	8. In Which The Boy Who Lived is Located

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter.**

* * *

_6 Months Previous_

**June 17** **th** **, 1984**

"Are you sure about this?" A woman's voice cut into the crisp silence of the dark room. Her companion- a man in a dark cloak, a hood pulled over his head- put his hand on her shoulder.

"Of course. You realize why this is necessary, right? To think- when He returns, to have the savior of the Wizarding World on our side…" The man trailed off. The woman gulped.

"Yes, yes, of course, but why does it have to be our—"

"You know why. This is the only way. Quickly, grab the blanket." The man interrupted. The woman bent down, avoiding the rubble that was spread out in the room, and grabbed the blanket that the man had pointed at. She ran a long, pale finger along the frayed edge before standing up.

"Here it is. Are you sure we will have all that is needed though?" She asked worriedly. The man gave an impatient sigh.

"Yes, yes, of course. This plan has been two years in the making, everything will work out. Now, quickly, we must leave." The man grabbed the woman's arm before quickly apparating away.

With a soft pop, the man and woman landed in a large room. Unlike the previous room that they had been in, this one was in perfect condition with beautiful adornments all around. The woman walked over to a bed in the corner of the room.

"He is asleep. Must we do this now? Can't we wait until morning?" She asked, softly placing a hand on the sleeping child in the bed.

"No, we must move swiftly. Take him, now. I shall do the rest of the work." The man answered. The woman sighed sadly, picking up the child, who cooed and moved restlessly in her arms.

"Hush now, my child. It'll be over soon." She said before she apparated away.

The man stared at the empty place the woman had stood before. With a deep sigh, he pointed his wand at the bed.

" _Incendio_!" He cried. The bed caught fire immediately. Smoke filled the room, and the man utter one more incantation before apparating away.

" _Morsmorde_!"

And he was gone.

* * *

**CHILD MURDER!**

**Malfoy Heir Burned Alive; Killers Still At Large**

**By Carney McLaughlin**

Late last night, four masked assailants, as reported by Malfoy Manor house elves, forced themselves into the home and killed Draco Malfoy, 4, as he slept in his bed. After the wicked deed was done, the assailants left- but not before leaving the dreaded "Dark Mark" of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named above the ruined remains of the child's bed.

"The Malfoys are distraught, obviously," An insider told this Daily Prophet.

And who could commit such a heinous act? Evidence seem to point to the three years deceased Dark Lord's followers- The Death Eaters. The Death Eaters, during the dark years of the war, were known for leaving the Dark Mark at crime scenes. Lucius Malfoy, 30, and father of the victim, was rumored to be a Death Eater during the war, but it was found that he was merely a victim of the Imperius Curse, and has since helped bring many ex-Death Eaters to justice. Could this have been that cause of the vendetta the Death Eaters have against this upstanding man of society? We talked to our insider for more information.

"It's not very well known, but the Malfoy's have been very involved in trying to locate Harry Potter." Our source told us.

They are, of course, referring to Harry Potter, vanquisher of You-Know-Who. Potter has been missing since late 1981, only a few months after he killed You-Know-Who. But what could The Boy Who Lived have to do with the Draco Malfoy's death?

"I think the Malfoys were getting a little too close for comfort for the ones who have little Harry hostage. That's why the killed Draco- as a warning, to get them to stop looking." The insider speculated.

Could this be true? Are the Malfoys really close to finding Harry Potter?

As much of a joyous occasion as finding Harry would be, it is a sad thing that it would be forever tinted with the spilt blood of an innocent child.

* * *

_Present Day_

**January 5** **th** **, 1985**

"Amos! Amos! Come here,  _quickly_!"

Amos Diggory shot up from where he was seated on the floor. He had been playing with his sons Cedric, who was six, and Harry, who was four.

"Eileen?" He asked, having heard his wife's frantic call only moments before, "What is it?"

"You  _need_ to see this!" She said. Amos walked into the room where she was, the kitchen, and saw her leaning over the morning edition of the Daily Prophet.

"What is it?" Amos asked. Eileen motioned towards the blaring headline at the top of the page.

**THE BOY WHO LIVED FOUND!**

_"_ _What?!"_  Amos cried in disbelief. He ran, peaking his head around the corner to check on the boys in the living room. Harry was still there, contently playing with a toy hippogriff. Returning to Eileen, Amos voiced his confusion, "I don't understand! Harry's right there!"

Eileen looked pale and gulped before answering. "You must read the article. I don't know what's going on either."

Amos nodded before grabbing the newspaper.

* * *

**THE BOY WHO LIVED FOUND!**

**Harry Potter, 4, Found Alive and Well Last Month**

**By Caroline Terrence**

The Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter has been located, aurors report. It had been kept secret due to safety concerns for the child.

Missing since November of 1981, Potter has been long speculated to have been taken by a group of disgruntled Death Eater enacting revenge against the child who killed their leader.

While we currently don't know all the details of the boy's kidnapping and subsequent captivity, we do know who is responsible for finding the child— Lucius Malfoy.

Malfoy, who's own son Draco died last June, has been ruthlessly searching for Harry Potter for the better part of three years. He was able to sit down and talk to us about his search and what drove him to dedicate his life to finding Harry, even after his own family tragedy.

DP: Thank you, Mr. Malfoy, for sitting down with the Daily Prophet today.

LM: Please, call me Lucius. And it's my pleasure.

DP: Thank you, Lucius. Now, I must ask you,  _how_ did you do this? Hundreds have searched for Harry since his disappearance in 1981, and most have given up, assuming he was dead. How is that after all this time, you haven't given up, and you've done the impossible, finding him?

LM: Perseverance. Strength.  _Faith._ I just knew Harry had to still be alive, he had to be. I just couldn't think about that little boy, a babe, our savior, dead. So I kept looking, kept searching. My wife has supported me throughout the whole search. She is my rock.

DP: Amazing. But even more amazing is that you've kept going all these years, even though, and I hope you don't mind me bring this up, the death of your own son. It's rumored that perhaps your search for Harry is directly linked to Draco's murder. How is it that you kept going despite this.

LM: (deep breath) No, no, it's fine. I can speak about it now. Draco's…Draco's death in June was meant to discourage me, to stop me from searching for Harry, but, really it did just the opposite. I kept looking, kept looking,  _because_ of Draco's death. I wasn't going to let another little boy die from these monsters like Draco was. I looked because of Draco.

DP: Simply amazing. You, sir, are a true hero. How will you move on after all this?

LM: I don't know. I don't know. Narcissa, my wife, and I have actually considered adopting young Harry. He has no home to go to, since it was discovered that those muggles he was originally put with were abusive towards him. It just breaks our hearts that in the three short years since his parents were murdered, he hasn't had a loving home.

DP: That's very noble of you. I'm sure The Boy Who Lived will be very pleased with his new mum and dad.

LM: Thank you, thank you.

(See Page 5 for full page picture of The Boy Who Lived, provided by the Malfoys)

* * *

Amos looked up from the article, eyes wide, before flipping to page 5. There was a picture of a young boy, who, Amos admitted to himself, looked just like a young James Potter. The boy's hair was messy and black, and his eyes, framed by round glasses, were an emerald green that Amos recognized.

"Those are Harry's eyes!" Eileen said beside him. Amos nodded grimly.

"Those are Lily Potter's eyes, and that child looks exactly like her and James' son."

"But, Amos, that's impossible!"

" _I_ know that,  _you_ know that,  _Remus, Molly and Arthur_ know that, and, I'd wager that Lucius Malfoy knows that. But everyone else certainly doesn't know that." Amos replied.

"Malfoy? What do you suppose he's doing with this fake Harry?" Eileen wondered.

"I don't know…I don't know. Whatever it is, it can't be good." Amos replied.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore sat at his, hands steepled, in deep thought.

So, someone had led it slip that Harry had been found. Albus' mind flickered back to a few weeks before when he had gotten a floo call…

_He had been sitting at his desk after lunch reading when a head popped up in his fireplace._

_"_ _Sir! Sir!" A voice cried. Albus had gotten up and kneeled before the young man in his floo._

_"_ _How may I help you young man?"_

_"_ _I am Auror Mortimer Giles, sir. It is urgent that you accompany me back to the ministry."_

_"_ _May I ask what's going on?" The young man shook his head._

_"_ _Sorry, Professor. It's top secret. The Minister requests you come immediately."_

_Albus' eyebrows rose in amusement. "The Minister, you say? If Cornelius is involved, I suppose it must be dreadfully important, indeed. Any hint at all?"_

_Mortimer's eyes flickered nervously before he whispered, "We have found Harry Potter."_

_All hints of amusement were gone from Albus' face. "You are sure?"_

_"_ _Very."_

_"_ _I shall come in a moment." Albus replied. Mortimer's face disappeared, leaving Albus deep in thought…_

Albus shook his head from his memories. He had been searching for Harry for years now, shouldn't he be happy? But no, no, something felt wrong. Lucius Malfoy was a Death Eater! Severus had confirmed it.

Albus' mouth was set in a grim line. No, no this couldn't be right. That child, who looked so achingly like Lily and James' son that Albus' heart had stopped when he had first seen him, just  _couldn't_ be the real Harry Potter.

It would be so simple though, Albus reflected, to accept that the Harry found was  _the_ Harry, but it was just too good to be true—and too entangled with the Malfoys. But then, where could the  _real_ Harry Potter be?

* * *

Harry Diggory walked over to his bestest friend in the whole, wide world.

"Ron!" He said happily. Ron, who had been looking at a picture book, smiled at Harry.

Mrs. Weasley, Ron's mum who made really good food, smiled at Harry. "Hello dear, did you walk all the way to our house by yourself?"

Harry nodded happily. "Mummy and daddy were busy today, and they said I could walk by myself."

"Well, you boys have fun, okay?" Mrs. Weasley said.

Harry nodded. "Okay! We're going to go play with Hermione. She doesn't have muggle school today since it's Saturday." Ron made a face at Harry's proclamation, but nodded along with his friend regardless.

"And you boys know not to use or talk about magic around Hermione, right?"

"Yes, Mrs. Weasely!"

"Yes, Mummy!" Harry and Ron said simultaneously. The two boys then can out of the Burrow in the direction of the village.

As they approached a hill, Ron looked at Harry. "Do we have to play with Hermione today? She's boring."

Harry frowned. "No she's not."

"She's just a muggle. It's not fun not playing magic games."

"Her stories are funny." Harry reasoned. Ron reluctantly nodded agreement.

"Some of them. I still like Babbitty Rabbitty better though." Ron replied. He still wasn't convinced about going to play with Hermione. "Isn't it stupid having to pretend to be muggles all the time though, Harry?"

"Kind of. But it'd be mean to stop playing with Hermione. Come on, Ron, we're almost to her house. Race you?" Harry said, deflecting Ron's complaining with a competitive grin.

"You're on! Last one there's a rotten gnome!" Ron cried before sprinting away. Harry laughed before following.

* * *

"Mum! Mum! Harry and Ron are coming!"

Janine Granger looked fondly at her daughter who was looking out of the window in excitement. No matter how strange her first meeting was with the Weasely's and Diggory's, she would be forever grateful for the joy Harry Diggory and Ron Weasely brought her daughter.

Hermione had started at her new school, and Janine could already tell it made Hermione unhappy. It wasn't the learning though that bothered the five-year-old, on the contrary, Hermione loved learning and her teachers. It was the students.

Though she never said a thing, Janine knew Hermione was being bullied. She had spoken to the teacher, but he seemed nonchalant about the matter, arguing that 'kids would be kids.' But, no matter what an awful week of school Hermione had, there was always a bright spot.

Every Saturday Harry and Ron would come running to come see her.

Unable to contain her excitement, Hermione hopped to the door, ripping it open with a wide grin.

"Harry! Ron!" She exclaimed happily.

"Hey Hermione!" Harry said, enthusiastically waving. Ron waved beside Harry, and if he was a bit less enthusiastic, well, Hermione was too pleased to even notice.

"Come in! Mum just made some snacks. I have a new book to show you!" Hermione turned back into the house, missing the exasperated look that Ron shot Harry.

After the children had eaten, the tree ran upstairs to Hermione's room. Though only five years old, she already had an impressive collection of books. Running to the nightstand beside her bed, she grabbed her latest addition.

"Look! Look! It's called  _The Three Musketeers!_ It made me think of the three of us!" Hermione said, a bit shyly. This time, she didn't miss the slight eye roll Ron gave.

Before Hermione could say anything however, Harry spoke up. "What's it about, Hermione?"

Hermione excitedly babbled away about sword fights and rescues to her friends. However, she eventually realized that neither were listening, choosing rather to poke each other. Tears prickled in her eyes.

"Why do you even bother playing with me? You guys don't even like me!" She exclaimed. Harry and Ron stopped poking, and looked at her with guilty faces.

"Sorry, Hermione!" Harry said. Ron nodded next to him.

"Sorry, Hermione. It's not your fault you're boring." Ron said. Harry slapped his arm as more tears fell down Hermione's face.

"I thought we were friends! Like the Three Musketeers in my stories! But…but you two are no better than the bullies at school! Just go away!" She cried, throwing her book at them.

"Ow!" Ron said as it hit his arm.

"We're sorry, Hermione! We didn't mean to be bullies." Harry told her.

"Liar! You think I'm boring. You think I'm weird. You…YOU THINK I'M A FREAK!" She screamed, eyes squeezed shut with her hands balled into fists at her side.

The door open behind Harry and Ron as Mrs. Granger stepped into the room.

"What's going on in here? Hermione, are you alright?" She asked worriedly.

"No one likes me!" Hermione yelled. Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and Hermione was lifted into the air.

Mrs. Granger screamed as Harry and Ron looked up in awe.

"What, what's happening?!" Hermione said, eyes popping open as she looked down in surprise.

"Oh  _boy!"_  Ron exclaimed, "Wait till I tell George! Wow! Our Hermione, a witch!"

Hermione frowned angrily, still hovering in the air. "A witch! That's a mean thing to say!"

"No, Hermione. He means you're magical, like us!" Harry said happily.

"I don't understand!" Hermione replied.

"Just wait here! I'll go get dad, he'll explain!" Harry said, before running out the door.

And then Mrs. Janine Granger fainted dead on the floor.

* * *

A witch.

Her daughter was…a witch.

It wasn't a sentence Janine thought she'd ever even think when she first held her infant daughter. But, it was true.

Hermione was magical, and she was a witch.

Amos Diggory had come over and, after reviving Janine from her fainting spell, had explained everything to her and a worried Mark who had just returned from the market.

There was a whole magical world hidden right under everyone's nose. A world her daughter was apparently a part of.

Harry and Ron were ecstatic, of course. They had immediately taken it upon themselves to explain all aspects of magic to Hermione. But annoyance lingered in Janine, having heard some of the children's argument earlier.

So what, now that Hermione was one of them, magical, they would except her fully? Hermione was so eager for friendship that all was forgiven and forgotten very easily. Too easily.

Janine resolved that she would watch. They were all so young, so immature, that it really was too early to say anything. The boys were only four. Janine was confident that eventually they would appreciate Hermione fully for who she was, especially now that they didn't have to keep a huge part of themselves secret.

Janine smiled, watching as Hermione and Harry giggled as Ron animatedly recounted a story–  _had he said_   _Babbitty Rabbitty? What in the world…–_ to his friends. Yes, Janine thought to herself, they would be just fine.

* * *

It had been a  _long_ day, Eileen thought as she relaxed in her chair.

They were treating the Grangers to a real Weasely-Diggory picnic, complete with pranks, food, and a wild quidditch match, since the Grangers now knew of magic. It was certainly a nice change from her tense morning, she thought watching Hermione instructing Harry and Ron how to sword fight.

After the terrifying article in the Daily Prophet, Amos and Arthur had rushed to the Ministry in an attempt to gain any more information as to what was going on, but everyone involved with the matter was quite close lipped.

In fact, the only information they managed to get was in itself worrying:

It was official, Lucius Malfoy was going to adopt Harry Potter.

* * *

The woman reclined in her chair, comforting the crying child.

"Hush, hush, don't cry." She said soothingly.

"Mummy, mummy, it  _hurts!"_ The little boy in her arms cried. He was scratching the black hair on his head frantically, and the woman watched with horror as the boy's features began morphing.

Just as the hair on the boy's head was turning to a white blonde color, a man walked into the room.

"Narcissa! What are you doing? I told you to keep him in his room while that happened!"

Narcissa Malfoy frowned while rubbing soothing circles on the boy's back. "It's warmer in here, and the warmth helps with the pain I find."

Lucius Malfoy's eyes softened. "Fine, fine, but if a house elf walks in- obliviate them."

"Yes, husband, I know what to do." She replied tersely. Lucius rolled his eyes before swooping out. Narcissa turned back to the child, who was still now.

"There, there, it's all over now. How do you feel? Would you like some water?"

The boy sniffled a little, rubbing a hand of his eye. "Yes, mummy."

Narcissa smiled, "Come now, Draco. I'll get you some and then tuck you into bed."

* * *

**Woah.**

**Just _woah..._**

**FOUR MONTHS! _FOUR MONTHS!_ That's how long it's been since I've last updated. In my defense...school! And writer's block! And stuffy stuffy stuff stuff stuff!**

**But like seriously, I'm so sorry. I had so much trouble with this story. I almost considered abandoning it...until I was hit by an idea! A spectacular idea! And so I wrote this :D I hoped you liked it, as I thought it turned out rather well :)**

**I'm still pretty busy with school, but I'm hoping I'll be able to update again before the end of the month.**

**Thanks for reading, and please review :)**

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Harry Diggory Cover Art drawn by Me :D](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2215506) by [AllyGator](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllyGator/pseuds/AllyGator)




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